(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Friday, confounding expectations for a higher open, on a light day of company news, while Biffa led the FTSE 250 after buying assets from Viridor.
Elsewhere, the pound held above the USD1.41 mark following upbeat UK retail sales figures.
The FTSE 100 index was down 5.47 points, or 0.1%, at 7,014.32. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 28.56 points, or 0.1%, at 22,363.44. The AIM All-Share index was flat at 1,246.31.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.1% at 699.60. The Cboe 250 was down 0.1% at 20,122.59, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.1% at 14,860.60.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.3% and 0.4% respectively.
In the FTSE 100, Kingfisher was the worst performer, down 3.7%, a day after raising its profit guidance as the Covid-19 pandemic-spurred demand for home-improvement projects continued. The stock had slipped 0.6% on Thursday.
In the FTSE 250, Biffa was the best performer, up 5.0%, after the waste management firm said it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Collections business and some Recycling assets from Viridor Waste Management for GBP126 million.
Travis Perkins was up 2.0% after the builders merchant late Thursday said it will sell its plumbing and heating distribution unit and give the proceeds to its shareholders.
HIG Capital will buy the unit for GBP325 million. The deal is expected to close in the next three months. The sale follows the company's separation of its Wickes Group DIY retailing arm as a separate London-listed company in April.
Travis said it will return the cash to shareholders through a 35 pence per share special payout and a buyback programme.
Close Brothers was up 0.5% after the merchant bank said it continued to perform strongly in its financial third quarter to April 30, in line with trends reported in the first half of the year.
Close Brothers said the third quarter saw high new business volumes in the lending business, solid net inflows in Asset Management, and a strong trading performance by stockbroker Winterflood.
Further, Close Brothers said it capital position remained strong, with a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 15.5%, which it said was significantly above the applicable minimum regulatory requirement. In the Banking unit, the loan book increased by 3.2% in the quarter and 7.7% year-to-date to GBP8.2 billion, up from GBP8.0 billion at the end of the previous quarter.
At the other end of the mid-caps, Trainline was down 4.5%. The public transport ticketing platform was extending losses from Thursday amid UK government plans to reform the railway network. The stock ended 23% lower on Thursday.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.7% on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was flat. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.1%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.4182 Friday morning, up from USD1.4163 at the London equities close on Thursday, in the wake of positive UK retail sales figures.
UK retail sales saw a sharp increase in April as shoppers returned to high streets following re-opening of all non-essential stores, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
On an annual basis, UK retail sales surged 42% in April, having increased 7.2% in March. The latest figure was well above the market forecast, cited by FXStreet, for a 37% rise.
On a monthly basis, retail sales grew 9.2% in April following a 5.4% rise in March. The month-on-month print also beat market consensus of a 4.5% increase.
"Shop re-openings triggered a much larger jump in retail sales than expected. Rising consumer confidence suggests spending should remain solid over coming months, though more of this will be targeted towards services rather than goods. Combined with rent pressures and the shift to online shopping, high street retail still faces a challenging recovery," said analysts at ING.
The euro was priced at USD1.2230, higher from USD1.2210. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY108.70, down from JPY108.84.
Brent oil was quoted at USD65.20 a barrel Friday morning, down from USD66.20 late Thursday. Gold was trading at USD1,875.22 an ounce, lower against USD1,878.30.
A busy international economics events calendar on Friday has a slew of flash PMI readings for May, with the eurozone at 0900 BST, the UK at 0930 BST and the US at 1445 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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