BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were little changed on Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak showed signs of spreading globally, raising fresh concerns about global growth.
On the positive side, U.K. retail sales data for January beat expectations. Retail sales grew 0.9 percent sequentially after falls in the previous two months, official data showed.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was marginally higher at 7,457 after surging 1 percent on Wednesday.
Shares of McBride fell 2.7 percent. The maker of retailer own brand household goods reported weak results in the first half of fiscal 2020.
Lloyds Banking Group shares rallied 3 percent. The bank posted a 26 percent drop in pre-tax profits for 2019 and said it had reached a settlement with the Official Receiver over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
Medical technology business Smith & Nephew soared 8.4 percent as it reported revenues of more than $5bn for the first time in its history.
BAE Systems climbed 3.5 percent. The defense company reported pretax profit of 1.6 billion pounds for the year ended 31 December 2019 compared to 1.2 billion pounds, previous year.
Mining giant Anglo American advanced 1.5 percent after reporting better than expected annual results.
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