FTSE 100 in the green after mixed day for UK retailers

London’s FTSE 100 has moved higher after a slow start to the year, with fashion retailer Next soaring to the top of the blue-chip index while JD Sports shares plummeted.

The index was 40.74 points higher, or 0.54%, at the end of the day, closing at 7,723.07.

It was a “tale of two retailers” on Thursday, with Boots and Next highlighting strong festive sales, while JD Sports and Topps Tiles gave a more downbeat outlook for consumer confidence.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst for CMC Markets UK, said: “After finishing 2023 on a strong note, and then seeing a slow start to the first trading week of 2024, the FTSE 100 has managed to post its first positive day this year, with the main gains being driven by a resilient performance from defensives as well as the energy sector.

“The main story on the UK blue-chip index today has been a tale of two retailers, with Next shares pushing up to new record highs, after upgrading its profits guidance for the fifth time in the last 12 months.”

Next was the day’s biggest riser on the FTSE 100 with shares up by more than 5.5%.

It was also a positive session for other top European stock indices, with Germany’s Dax up 0.48% and France’s Cac 40 up 0.52% at close.

In the US, the S&P 500 was 0.15% higher and Dow Jones was up about 0.5% by the time European markets closed.

The pound was up by 0.25% against the US dollar to 1.2693, and down by 0.1% against the euro to 1.1583.

The price of Brent crude oil was down by about 1.75% to 76.9 US dollars per barrel.

In company news, shares in JD Sports plummeted by about a quarter after the sportswear retailer downgraded its yearly profit expectations.

The business said its pretax profit is likely to be more than £100 million less than previous guidance in the year to early February.

Shares in JD Sports tumbled by 23% after the update which flagged a “more cautious consumer”.

It was also a tougher day for Topps Tiles which saw its share price fall by as much as 9% in early trading, after revealing a dip in revenues.

The firm said it had seen customers tightening their belts, leading like-for-like sales to decline by about 7% between October and December.

Its share price was down 5.4% by the end of the day.

The Boots app and website reported its best ever month in November as it was boosted by a strong Black Friday, the company has said.

The pharmacy chain said that visits to its shops had also increased during the three months to the end of November, up 7% on the same