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* Retail sales soar in April
* PMI hits record high
* Card Factory falls as store sales drop
* Both FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 flat
(Updates with market close)
By Shivani Kumaresan
May 21 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 was flat on Friday,
posting a weekly loss, as weakness in mining stocks countered a
bigger-than-expected jump in retail sales and business activity.
The blue-chip index was flat, with miners Anglo
American Plc, Glencore Plc, and Rio Tinto
falling between 0.3% and 0.5%.
Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell were
the biggest boosts to the index.
Retail sales surged by 9.2% in April, when non-essential
shops reopened after months of closure due to COVID-19
restrictions, official data showed, with the UK Composite
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) hitting its highest level on
record.
"The rise in the UK PMIs are the latest indicator to suggest
the economy is already in a better place than after the first
wave last summer," said James Smith, developed markets economist
at ING.
"We expect around 5% growth in the second quarter and think
the economy will be just shy of, or maybe even back to,
pre-virus levels by the end of the year."
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index was
also flat.
The FTSE 100 has gained 8.2% year-to-date on optimism about
economic recovery. But the index has been trading in a tight
range recently as higher inflation has stoked fears that central
banks might pare back their support sooner than expected.
A Reuters poll found that the UK economy will expand 5.9%
this year, much stronger than the 5.0% forecast last month, as a
fast-moving coronavirus vaccine programme allows businesses to
reopen and lifts confidence.
Biffa rose 6.0% to the top of mid-cap index after
its proposal to buy the collections business and certain
recycling assets from Viridor Waste Management Ltd for 126
million pounds ($178.87 million).
Card Factory slid 15.1% after reporting a marginal
drop in like-for-like store sales, compared with 2019, after the
UK began reopening stores and eased restrictions in April.
(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu, Uttaresh.V, William Maclean)
