UK shares retreat amid weaker session for retail stocks

The FTSE 100 was down 10.23 points, or 0.13%, to close at 7,683.96.

UK shares floundered on Tuesday after a disappointing session for London’s top retail stocks (John Walton/PA) (PA Archive)

UK shares floundered on Tuesday after a disappointing session for London’s top retail stocks, as new data pointed to a festive sales flop for retailers.

The FTSE 100 was trading lower, while other European indices were also in the red.

The blue-chip index was down 10.23 points, or 0.13%, to close at 7,683.96.

JD Sports, Marks & Spencer, Ocado and Kingfisher were among the day’s biggest fallers, while basic resources also lagged.

The British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed weak consumer confidence continued to hold back spending in December, with total sales just 1.7% higher than a year earlier.

Meanwhile, oil prices remained in focus for traders amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and concerns over supply of the commodity.

But the price of Brent crude oil rebounded somewhat after big losses on Monday, climbing 2.3% to 77.9 US dollars per barrel.

Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Dax was down 0.17% and France’s Cac 40 0.32% lower at the end of the day.

Over in the US, Wall Street stocks were in the red by the time European markets closed. The S&P 500 was down about 0.1% and Dow Jones down 0.4%.

The pound was down 0.25% against the US dollar to 1.2715, and down 0.1% against the euro to 1.163.

In company news, pharmaceutical giant GSK was near the top of the FTSE 100 after announcing it had struck a deal to buy asthma drug firm Aiolos Bio, a three-month-old start-up, for up to 1.4 billion US dollars (£1.1 billion).

GSK has been growing its range of treatments for respiratory diseases, and said the acquisition could help reach more asthma patients. Its share price was 1.8% higher at close.

It was also a positive session for B&M Value Retail which told shareholders its sales rose over the key “golden quarter”, referring to the three months leading up to Christmas.

The chain said it was continuing to focus on keeping prices low for its customers, many of whom are facing cost-of-living pressures, and that is continuing to open new stores in the UK.

Its share price moved 0.9% higher at the end of the day.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Severn Trent, up 51p to 2,617p, GSK, up 27.2p to 1,576.2p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 32.5p to 1,894.5p, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, up 12.2p to 774.6p, and F&C Investment Trust, up 12p to 943p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Beazley, down 24p to 528p, JD Sports, down 5p to 114.35p, Ocado, down 26.4p to 708p, RS Group, down 19.6p to 767p, and St James’s Place, down 14.6p to 633.2p.