* FTSE 100 down 1.4%, FTSE 250 drops 0.8%
* UK retail sales plunge to a record low
* Shell, BP both down more than 3%
* Pearson falls on revenue hit due to school closures
(Adds comment, updates share prices)
By Devik Jain
April 24 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 dived along with
European and Asian stock markets on Friday as shares in oil
majors BP and Shell fell and data laid bare the scale of the
collapse in UK retail sales in March.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 1.4%, also hit by
declines in bank stocks as doubts over one possible coronavirus
treatment clouded the global mood, while the domestically
focused FTSE 250 index lost 0.8%.
Stimulus from a raft of central banks and governments, and
signs of some lockdowns being eased, has helped the FTSE recover
from mid-March lows, but it still stands below 25% from its
January peak and data this week has been bleak.
UK retail sales fell by the most on record in March, while
consumer confidence held at its lowest since 2009 as thousands
of businesses and the vast majority of shops were closed.
"The feeling is we've had a bear market rally," said Keith
Temperton, a sales trader at Tavira Securities.
"We're cautious into next week. We have fairly important
things coming out on the economic front (and) ... I imagine that
the market will struggle to absorb the bad data."
Steep declines in Brent and a historic plunge in
U.S. crude oil futures have rattled stock markets this week and
BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were both down
more than 3%.
A report that Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental
drug remdesivir failed to help patients with severe COVID-19 in
a Chinese trial further undermined sentiment, although the
drugmaker said the findings were inconclusive because the study
was terminated early.
Major European banks report next week with latest Refinitiv
forecasts showing companies listed on the pan-European STOXX 600
index are set to record a 37% decline in earnings in
the second quarter.
Luxury brand Burberry fell 2.8% after saying it
would not rely on government support for jobs in UK and would
continue to pay its employees who are unable to fulfil their
roles because of store or site closures during the coronavirus
crisis.
Education group Pearson fell 3.1% after it posted a
5% fall in its quarterly revenue and warned of a bigger hit if
social distancing measures are prolonged globally.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick
Graham)
