FTSE 100 Declines As Political Turmoil Continues

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks were moving lower on Friday and the sterling fell amid the ongoing political turmoil following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss after just 45 days in office.

The day's economic reports proved to be a mixed bag, with the decline in retail sales deepening unexpectedly in September while a measure of consumer sentiment unexpectedly improved in October, despite soaring inflation and political uncertainty.

U.K. retail sales dropped 1.4 percent month-on-month, following a revised 1.7 percent decline in August, the Office for National Statistics reported. Economists had forecast sales to drop at a slower pace of 0.5 percent.

On a yearly basis, the decline in retail sales worsened to 6.9 percent in September from 5.6 percent in August. Economists had expected sales to fall 5.0 percent.

The consumer confidence index rose to -47 in October from -49 in September, market research group GfK said. The score was forecast to fall further to -52.0. The September reading was the lowest since the survey began in 1974.

The U.K. budget deficit reached its second highest September level since the monthly records began in 1993, the Office for National Statistics said separately.

The benchmark FTSE 100 fell 68 points, or 1 percent, to 6,875 after closing 0.3 percent higher on Thursday.

InterContinental Hotels slumped 4.6 percent. The hotel chain said that Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will step down as chief financial officer.

London Stock Exchange Group declined 2.7 percent after sticking with targets in a quarterly update.

Online food delivery firm Deliveroo surged nearly 5 percent after reporting that its third-quarter gross transaction value increased 8 percent to 1.70 billion pounds from last year's 1.57 billion pounds.