Christmas sales slump takes shine off retail stocks

THE Christmas sparkle came off retail stocks yesterday after Marks & Spencer posted steep falls in food and clothing sales.

M&S was the biggest faller on the top flight, as it pinned the blame on mild October weather for a 2.8 per cent fall in like-forlike clothing and home sales during the 13 weeks to December 30.

Shares were down 22.8p to 301.2p, as the retailer’s woes were compounded by a 0.4 per cent sales drop at its food arm.

Next and Primark-owner Associated British Foods also fell foul of wider sell-off of retail stocks – down 77p to 4,963p and 23p to 2,818p respectively – but the FTSE 100 Index still managed a fresh record high, rising 14.43 points to 7,762.94.

Fiona Cincotta, analyst at City Index, said: “Retailers were out of favour throughout the day, following disappointing numbers from Marks & Spencer. Prior to the releases, expectations had been running high; only earlier this week Morrisons and Sainsbury impressed investors with better than expected sales figures over the crucial Christmas period.”

Across Europe, the Cac 40 in France was 0.3 per cent lower and Germany’s Dax was down by 0.6 per cent.

On the currency markets, the pound enjoyed a lift at the expense of the US dollar’s weakness, pushing 0.2 per cent higher at 1.353. However, sterling had a rockier ride against the euro, slipping 0.5 per cent to 1.124.

The price of oil was teetering close to the $70 mark in response to official data pointing to a fall in US production and crude inventories.

Brent crude surged one per cent, or 69 cents, to $69.76 a barrel at the time of the London market close.

In UK stocks, was among the biggest fallers despite reporting a solid rise in sales over the critical Christmas trading period.

The supermarket giant said UK like-for-like sales rose by 1.9 per cent in the six weeks to January 6, driven by a strong grocery performance.

The four weeks leading up to Christmas Day delivered record sales and volumes in the UK, which helped it notch up a 2.3 per cent rise in third quarter comparable sales. But the figures fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Supermarkets and

also suffered in the of the slump, drifting

wake down 3.3p to 226.2p and 5.3p to 248.6p respectively.

Britain’s biggest housebuilder

had a disappointing day’s trading after being hit with a broker downgrade from Peel Hunt. By contrast, takeaway firm

enjoyed a stellar session.

It finished the day as the biggest riser following a broker upgrade from Barclays.

The biggest risers on FTSE 100 Index were up 36.2p to 803.8p,

57.5p to 1,536.5p,

up 60.6p to 1,761p, up 45p to 2,050p. The biggest fallers were

down 22.8p to 301.2p, down 9.6p to 202.3p, down down 17.2p to 617p, 5.1p to 196.1p.

the

up WALL Street surged to record highs yesterday as rising oil prices lifted energy stocks and investors bet on a strong US corporate earnings season.

The S&P energy sector jumped more than two per cent as Brent crude rose above $70 a barrel for the first time since December 2014, boosted by a surprise drop in US production and lower crude inventories.

The industrial index was helped by airlines after an upbeat forecast from No. 2 US carrier Delta Air Lines.

“The unifying factor of the whole week is a heightened confidence in the pace of economic activity. That helps explain the demand picture which has oil up at $70,” said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, in New York.

Wall Street had dropped on Wednesday, the first daily decline in 2018 after a report that China would slow bond purchases and a report that US President Donald Trump would end a key trade agreement.

Investors were expecting bullish quarterly earnings reports from the biggest US companies and were hoping for some details on expected savings from the new federal tax code. The reporting season kicks off in earnest on Friday, with results from the big banks

and

The rose 205.6 points to 25,574.73, the

19.33 points to 2,767.56 and the

58.21 points

to 7,211.78.