(There will be no London stock market report on Monday May 25
due to a UK public holiday.)
* HSBC, StanChart tumble to multi-year lows
* FTSE 100 set for second straight monthly gain
* Both major indexes log strongest week in six
* April retail sales crash, May consumer confidence sinks
* FTSE 100 down 0.4%, FTSE 250 up 0.1%
(Adds comments, updates to close)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Devik Jain
May 22 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 fell on Friday, dragged
down by Asia-focused lenders after China's proposal to impose
national security laws on Hong Kong compounded trade tensions
between Washington and Beijing.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 declined 0.4%, with
Prudential sliding 9.3% to the bottom of the index while
HSBC slipped to its lowest since 2009.
China's plan also raised fears of more pro-democracy
protests in Asia's financial hub.
"Investors may have been more focused on the continued
unhelpful dialogue between the U.S. and China, hence they chose
to trim some risk exposure," said Ian Williams, economics &
strategy research analyst at Peel Hunt.
The domestically focused FTSE 250, nudged 0.1%
higher, boosted by pub operator Marstons which surged
102.7% after saying it would combine its brewing business with
Carlsberg UK.
Both major indexes logged their strongest week in six, with
the FTSE 100 now up more than 22% from its mid-March lows,
supported by aggressive stimulus measures and hopes of a
recovery from a deep coronavirus-fuelled economic slump.
Data on Friday showed retail sales fell by the most on
record in April, while British consumer confidence in early May
sunk to its joint-lowest level since the global financial
crisis.
"Data releases had little obvious impact on equity markets,
which have been behaving as if April was the low point for
several weeks now," Williams said.
Transport operator Go-Ahead Group slumped 10.6%
after warning the pandemic would hit its profit this year.
Luxury retailer Burberry Group Plc rose 3.3% after
its chief executive said the company was encouraged by a "strong
rebound" in some parts of Asia, having earlier reported a 27%
slump in comparable sales in the final quarter of its year,
which ended with about 60% of its stores closed.
British Airways-owner IAG fell 7% and easyJet Plc
was down 3% with the country to introduce a COVID-19
quarantine for travellers arriving from overseas from June 8.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal, Devik Jain and Sagarika
Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
