BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were moving lower on Friday as worries about rising Covid-19 cases and a sharp escalation in tensions between the United States and China overshadowed a slew of upbeat economic data.
The benchmark FTSE 100 fell 85 points, or 1.37 percent, to 6,126 after closing up 0.1 percent on Thursday.
Education firm Pearson tumbled almost 4 percent after posting a first-half loss.
British Gas owner Centrica surged 18 percent after it announced a deal to sell its North American business Direct Energy to NRG Energy for $3.63 billion.
Vodafone shares plunged 4.7 percent. After reporting a slight fall in first-quarter, the company said its mobile towers business will be spun-off via an initial public offer in Frankfurt early next year.
In economic news, the U.K. manufacturing and services purchasing managers' indexes both rose in July, according to initial 'flash' readings from IHS Markit. The manufacturing PMI rose to 53.6 from 50.1, while the services PMI inched up to 56.6 from 47.1.
A measure of U.K. consumer confidence remained unchanged at lower level in July, final data from market research group GfK showed, with the corresponding index coming in at -27 in July, unchanged from flash estimate but above from June's score of -30.
U.K. retail sales logged a double-digit growth in June as non-food and fuel stores continued their recovery from the sharp falls experienced since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Office for National Statistics reported.
Retail sales volume advanced 13.9 percent month on month, faster than the 12.3 percent rise in May and bigger than economists' forecast of 8 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX