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* Travel stocks slammed by lockdown fears
* UK retail sales rise by 0.8% in October
* Kingfisher slips as Q3 sales drop
* FTSE 100 down 0.5%, FTSE 250 off 0.4%
(Updates to close)
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Devik Jain
Nov 19 (Reuters) - London stocks slipped on Friday, dragged
down by commodity and travel shares on concerns around fresh
COVID-19 curbs in Europe, while rising bets about rate hikes
following strong economic data pushed the FTSE 100 index to its
first weekly loss in four.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.5% lower, while the
domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index ended 0.4%
down.
Oil majors BP and Shell slipped 2.9% and
3.1%, respectively, as crude prices sank amid a resurgent
pandemic in Europe. Banks dropped 1.7%.
Carriers Ryanair, British Airways-owner IAG
, Wizz Air, EasyJet, Holiday Inn owner
, Premier Inn owner Whitbread and caterer Compass
Group slipped between 2.3% and 5.2% after Austria said
it will reimpose a full COVID-19 lockdown, while neighbouring
Germany warned it may follow suit to tackle a new wave of
infections.
Lockdown anxiety also overshadowed data showing British
retail sales in October rose by more than expected, adding to
recent signs that a slowdown in the economy might have abated
slightly.
Retailers like WH Smith PLC and Ocado Group
rose 1.2% and 6.8%, respectively.
"People are bringing forward purchases they would have made
in November and December. Consumers are being very cautious
because of the uncertainty around the economy, high inflation,
squeezing household incomes, squeezing disposable incomes and
higher taxes," said Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda.
"We should not get carried away with today's retail sales
figures because it's not indicative of a big consumer driven
rebound to come."
The data came at the heels of a hotter inflation reading and
solid jobs report earlier this week which cemented expectations
of an interest rate hike in December.
Bogged down by inflationary pressures and supply chain
problems, the FTSE 100 has gained just 11.9% this year,
underperforming its European and U.S peers. The index also
logged its biggest weekly drop since mid-August.
Among other stocks, Kingfisher tumbled 4.4% after
the home improvement retailer reported a 2.4% fall in
like-for-like sales in the three months to Oct. 31.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu and Shailesh Kuber)
