LONDON (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks turned in a mixed performance Friday morning with investors digesting the latest batch of domestic economic data, and PMI readings from other major economies in the region, in addition to reacting to some corporate news.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 7.75 points or 0.08% at 10,157.80 a little while ago.
BAE Systems and BP moved up by 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively. Marks & Spencer, Shell, Endeavour Mining, RightMove, Rio Tinto, Hiscox, AstraZeneca and Rolls Royce Holdings gained 0.7 to 1.2%.
Burberry Group shed about 4.2%. IAG, Admiral Group and EasyJet lost 3 to 3.3%.
Spirax Group slid 2.3%. Intercontinental Hotels Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Coca-Cola HBC, Autotrader Group, Diploma, Bunzl, Informa and Reckitt Benckiser lost 1.2 to 2%.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales rebounded in December, rising by 0.4% in the month, in contrast to the 0.1% drop in November. Economists expected no change in the sales volume in December.
On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 2.5% from 1.8% in the previous month. Sales were expected to climb only 1.0 percent.
In 2025, sales volume rose 1.3% with increases in both food and non-food stores, as well as non-store retailers. This followed a rise of 0.2% in 2024.
Elsewhere, a monthly survey published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed that the British consumer confidence rose one point to -16 in January.
Data from S&P Global showed the UK S&P Global Composite PMI rose to 53.9 in January from 51.4 in the previous month, well above expectations of 51.5. January reading marked the sharpest growth in the UK private sector activity since April 2024.
The Services sector PMI rose to 54.3 in January from 51.4 in December, while the manufacturing PMI rose to a 17-month high of 51.6 in January, up from 50.6 a month earlier.
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