London open: Stocks flat as investors mull retail sales; Britvic surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Friday as investors mulled the latest retail sales data and consumer confidence reading. At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 8,273.91.

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Unsurprisingly, the Bank of England's interest rate decision is dominating market sentiment today, with UK stocks not moving too much, as investors digest the decision to keep rates static.

"The macro outlook is more stable than it has been, and this will be contributing to the broadly positive moves seen in recent days. It's a quiet end to the week on the corporate news side of things, meaning there isn't too much else for the FTSE to hang its hat on."

On the macro front, figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales rose 2.9% in May, versus expectations for a 1.5% jump. This followed a 1.8% decline in April, which was revised from a 2.3% fall previously reported.

The ONS said sales volumes rose across most sectors, with clothing retailers and furniture stores rebounding following poor weather in April.

The data showed that non-food store sales volumes - the total of department, clothing, household, and other non-food stores - rose 3.5% in May. This was the largest monthly rise since April 2021, and followed a 3% fall in April.

Within non-food stores, there was strong monthly growth for clothing and footwear retailers, furniture stores, and sports equipment, games and toys stores. The ONS said retailers reported improved footfall, better weather, and the impact of promotions.

On the year, retail sales were up 1.3% in May and were 0.5% below their pre- pandemic level in February 2020.

The news came alongside the latest GfK survey, which showed that consumer confidence strengthened in June as hopes for the economic recovery gained ground.

GfK's consumer confidence index came in at -14, up three points on May and well above June 2023, when it was -24.

Still to come, UK services and manufacturing PMIs for June are due at 0930 BST.

In equity markets, Ocado was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, having tanked on Thursday after announcing that the planned launch of North American partner Sobeys' customer fulfilment centre in Vancouver had been paused and that the two had agreed to end terms related to mutual exclusivity.

United Utilities and Severn Trent were both higher after JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the shares to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and to 'neutral' from 'underweight', respectively.

"We believe that the share prices now reflect headwinds including low regulatory visibility, and expectations of less attractive proposed returns compared to electricity networks," it said.

Events group Informa rallied after saying it was on track to deliver earnings at the upper end of guidance as revenues grew by 10.1% in the year to date.

Britvic surged after confirming it had rejected two takeover proposals from Danish brewer Carlsberg, the first at 1,200p per share and the second at 1,250p.

On the downside, B&M European Value Retail was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,273.91 0.02% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,519.90 0.10% techMARK (TASX) 4,829.36 0.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 318.30p 2.68% Entain (ENT) 685.00p 1.78% United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,011.00p 1.77% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,477.00p 1.47% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 14,940.00p 1.46% Informa (INF) 867.00p 0.84% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,355.50p 0.67% Haleon (HLN) 331.30p 0.64% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 126.65p 0.60% 3i Group (III) 3,178.00p 0.57%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 468.50p -1.80% easyJet (EZJ) 445.00p -1.35% Kingfisher (KGF) 249.80p -1.23% Mondi (MNDI) 1,485.00p -1.13% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,374.00p -1.10% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 889.20p -0.94% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 5,948.00p -0.90% Standard Chartered (STAN) 729.00p -0.87% Croda International (CRDA) 4,067.00p -0.80% Frasers Group (FRAS) 865.00p -0.75%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Britvic (BVIC) 1,169.00p 15.17% ITV (ITV) 80.00p 4.30% Future (FUTR) 1,050.00p 3.75% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 616.00p 3.36% Harbour Energy (HBR) 319.90p 2.83% Tate & Lyle (TATE) 629.50p 2.27% Tyman (TYMN) 363.50p 1.82% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 355.00p 1.43% WH Smith (SMWH) 1,186.00p 1.28% Trainline (TRN) 322.40p 1.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,264.00p -2.92% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 121.00p -2.73% International Distribution Services (IDS) 314.20p -2.72% Grainger (GRI) 236.00p -1.87% BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 566.00p -1.74% CMC Markets (CMCX) 311.50p -1.74% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 574.00p -1.71% Essentra (ESNT) 165.20p -1.55% Asia Dragon Trust (DGN) 400.00p -1.48% Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 81.00p -1.46%