London close: Stocks slip on relatively quiet Friday

(Sharecast News) - London's stock markets closed lower on Friday, weighed down by a stronger pound and mixed investor sentiment following the release of the latest UK retail sales figures.

The FTSE 100 dropped by 0.43%, ending the day at 8,311.41 points, while the FTSE 250 slipped 0.21% to 21,048.91.

In currency markets, sterling was last 0.49% stronger on the dollar to trade at $1.2918, while it gained 0.21% against the euro, changing hands at €1.1740.

"US housing starts and building permits hitting a four-year low, White House officials warning of a possible retaliatory strike over the coming days by Iran on Israel and heightened tensions between Ukraine and Russia provoked gold safe-haven buying," said IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph.

"After a week of strong gains, several stock indices stalled at their early August highs ahead of next week's relatively empty economic calendar, bar FOMC minutes and the Jackson Hole symposium."

Rudolph added that the greenback's appreciation following stronger-than-expected US retail sales on Thursday was given a blow by US housing starts and building permits, which both missed estimates.

"The price of copper rallied to a two-week high above $4.10 per pound on supply risks while the price of oil dropped by over 2% on Qatar-Iran diplomacy and Hamas/Israel cease-fire talks."

Retail sales rebound modestly in July

In economic news, retail sales in the UK experienced a modest rebound in July, rising 0.5% after a 0.9% decline in June, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics earlier.

Although the increase fell short of the 0.6% expected by economists, it marked a recovery from June's revised drop of 1.2%, initially reported as a 1.2% decline.

Sales volumes were up 1.4% compared to July 2023 but remained 0.8% below their pre-Covid levels from February 2020.

"Retail sales grew in July led by increases in department stores and sports equipment shops, with both the Euros and discounting across many stores boosting sales," said ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown.

"These increases were offset by a poor month for clothing and furniture shops, and falling fuel sales, despite prices at the pump falling."

In the United States, building permits decreased by 4% in July, reaching an annualised rate of 1.39 million, the lowest in four years and below market expectations of 1.43 million, according to the Census Bureau.

The decline was driven by a sharp 12.4% drop in permits for multi-unit buildings, while single-family permits saw a marginal 0.1% decrease.

Housing starts also fell significantly, down 6.8% to 1.23 million, reversing June's 1.1% gain, primarily due to a 14.1% slump in single-family home starts.

Meanwhile, American consumer confidence showed little change in August, with the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index inching up from 66.4 in July to 67.8, slightly above the consensus expectation of 66.9.

Inflation expectations also remained steady, reflecting a stable outlook among consumers regarding the economy and their personal finances.

Entain in the green, GSK and AstraZeneca slip

On London's equity markets, Entain shares rose 2.74% following an upgrade from Goldman Sachs, which shifted its rating on the Ladbrokes owner from 'sell' to 'neutral'.

Playtech saw a significant gain of 3.53%, as the shares continued their rally after it confirmed earlier in the week that it was in discussions with Flutter Entertainment regarding the potential sale of its Italian business, Snaitech.

Crest Nicholson Holdings edged up by 0.09%.

The housebuilder's shares remained in positive territory following news that Bellway had withdrawn from its planned takeover of the company earlier this week.

On the downside, GSK dipped 0.31% despite the pharmaceutical giant welcoming a Florida State Court ruling that excluded expert testimony in the ongoing Zantac lawsuit, where plaintiffs claimed the heartburn drug caused cancer.

GSK announced plans to seek dismissal of an upcoming related case.

AstraZeneca shares fell by 0.91% after the company announced that the US FDA approved its drug 'Imfinzi' for treating resectable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in adults without certain genetic mutations.

Heavily-weighted miners also struggled, with Antofagasta down 0.61% and Glencore slipping 0.09%, contributing to the sector's overall decline.

SSP Group slid 2.94%, as the travel food outlet operator gave up the strong gains it had made on Thursday.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,311.41 -0.43% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,048.91 -0.21% techMARK (TASX) 4,900.78 -0.51%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Entain (ENT) 638.20p 2.74% Burberry Group (BRBY) 686.60p 2.26% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 825.80p 1.57% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 486.50p 1.50% Melrose Industries (MRO) 504.40p 1.18% Kingfisher (KGF) 278.60p 0.98% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,308.00p 0.85% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 348.70p 0.81% Beazley (BEZ) 748.50p 0.74% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 58.90p 0.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rightmove (RMV) 532.00p -2.78% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 5,175.00p -2.63% Fresnillo (FRES) 532.00p -2.03% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,210.00p -1.85% Vistry Group (VTY) 1,344.00p -1.68% Sage Group (SGE) 1,015.50p -1.65% Diageo (DGE) 2,483.50p -1.47% Persimmon (PSN) 1,655.00p -1.46% SEGRO (SGRO) 887.40p -1.40% Whitbread (WTB) 2,808.00p -1.37%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Playtech (PTEC) 646.00p 3.53% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 179.00p 3.35% HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,560.00p 2.39% Coats Group (COA) 101.80p 2.21% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,261.00p 2.02% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 444.00p 1.72% Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 567.00p 1.61% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 390.20p 1.56% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 576.00p 1.41% Softcat (SCT) 1,637.00p 1.36%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,270.00p -4.80% SSP Group (SSPG) 168.40p -2.94% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 303.00p -2.73% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 168.30p -2.26% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 476.40p -2.13% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 309.00p -2.06% Genus (GNS) 1,738.00p -1.92% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 153.20p -1.92% BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 371.00p -1.85% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 5,370.00p -1.83%