The FTSE 100 edged upwards on Friday after figures revealed UK retail sales unexpectedly rose last month amid warm weather, marking the index’s tenth consecutive day in the green.
London’s blue-chip index ended the week just in the green, rising eight points to finish the day at 8,415, a 0.1% rise.
The 10-day winning streak was the FTSE’s longest stretch of unbroken gains since 2019.
Investors were buoyed early on by the news that warmer weather boosted sales for fashion chains and garden centres, according to new official figures.
The overall quantity of sales increased by 0.4% in March, following a rise of 0.7% in February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday.
The figure beat forecasts after most analysts had been expecting sales to decline by 0.4% last month.
It marks a brighter start to the year for retailers with sales leaping by 1.4% in January, and March representing the third month in a row of growth.
Elsewhere, Germany’s Dax rose 0.8% and France’s Cac 40 rose 0.5%.
Meanwhile on Wall Street, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and the Dow Jones was down by 0.2% after UK markets closed.
Sterling was up 0.024% against the dollar at 1.3329, while it was 0.038% down against the euro at 1.1715.
In company news, the gambling group behind William Hill and 888 revealed stronger revenues for the latest quarter despite weaker-than-expected trading in the UK and Ireland.
Evoke, which also owns the Mr Green brand, revealed that group revenues rose by 1% to £437 million for the three months to March 31, compared with the same period a year earlier.
Its UK and Ireland online business saw revenues fall by 1% for the quarter.
This was largely caused by lower sports revenues as both its gaming and sports betting operations were impacted by the introduction of additional safer gambling measures.
Shares in the company rose 0.31%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: Melrose Industries, up 15.6p to 429.4p; Entain, up 19.2p to 588.2p; Rolls-Royce, up 20.2p to 755.4p; Centrica, up 3.75p to 157.35p; and St James’s Place, up 21.4p to 952.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Unilever, down 106p to 4685p; Marks & Spencer, down 8.5p to 386p; Fresnillo, down 21.5p to 982.5p; Pearson, down 23.5p to 1152p; and Hiscox, down 22p to 1104p.
Source: independent.co.uk
