FTSE 100 Gains As Retail Sales Recover In August
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks rose slightly on Friday after data showed U.K. retail sales rose in August on food and non-food store sales.
Retail sales posted a monthly growth of 0.4 percent, in contrast to the 1.1 percent decline seen in July. Nonetheless, sales volume was slightly weaker than economists' forecast of 0.5 percent rise.
On a yearly basis, the decline in overall retail sales slowed to 1.4 percent from 3.1 percent in July.
Elsewhere, survey results from the market research group GfK showed that British consumer confidence hit the highest since January 2022. The corresponding index improved to -21 in September from -25 in August.
On the flip side, the composite PMI in the United Kingdom fell to 46.80 points in September from 48.60 points in August of 2023.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 25 points, or 0.3 percent, at 7,704 after declining 0.7 percent on Thursday.
The British pound extended a multi-week decline, a day after the Bank of England held rates steady for the first time since November 2021.
AstraZeneca rallied nearly 2 percent after announcing it found favorable results in a trail for a common type of breast cancer.
Infant and young children's retailer Mothercare soared 20 percent after saying it expects to complete a refinancing shortly.
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