The latest flurry of Christmas updates saw share winners and losers in the retail sector as the wider market also struggled for direction.
Game Group and Argos owner Home Retail Group were soaring ahead after their festive reports, but supermarket Tesco and Currys parent Dixons Retail Group fell heavily after disappointing investors.
The FTSE 100 Index eased back by 17.9 points to 6032.8, despite further gains from banks and insurers in the wake of Wednesday’s relief over a successful bond auction for under-pressure Portugal. Royal Bank of Scotland rose 1.3p to 42.3p, while fellow taxpayer-backed player Lloyds Banking Group added 0.6p to 68.3p.
There was little reaction to the widely expected decision by the Bank of England to leave interest rates on hold at 0.5% and quantitative easing unchanged at £200 billion. Futures trading suggested investor caution on Wall Street ahead of the US opening, with eyes on forthcoming jobs figures and international trade data.
Retailers were in sharp focus in London as a busy session for updates confirmed the view that the snow-hit trading period had been a mixed one for the sector.
Tesco was among the Footsie’s biggest fallers in the top flight after it posted modest 0.6% like-for-like sales growth in the six weeks to January 8. Shares fell 9.5p to 414.2p – or 2% – as the update appeared to reinforce recent signs that smaller rival Sainsbury’s had gained ground on the industry market leader.
Fellow blue chip retailers Marks & Spencer and Next were enjoying gains, up 2.7p to 375.3p and 18p to 2071p respectively.
In the FTSE 250 Index, Argos owner Home Retail Group jumped 18.7p to 224.7p after it said its profit forecasts remained intact after the festive period.
Dixons Retail Group moved in the opposite direction, down 2.1p to 21.7p after it said UK and Ireland like-for-like sales fell 4% and cautioned that annual profits were expected at the bottom end of forecasts. Halfords was another faller, down 12p to 408p, as it said profits were likely to be at the lower end of market forecasts after poor sales of children’s bicycles.
But Game Group jumped 18% or 11p to 73.3p after a strong Christmas season for games releases helped improve its UK and Ireland trading significantly, with sales down 0.5% against a 7.6% drop in the previous 18 weeks.
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