FTSE 100 Flat In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - UK's FTSE 100 was flat a little past noon on Friday with investors largely refraining from making big moves. A report showing an improvement in consumer sentiment supported the market, while data showing an unexpected drop in retail sales appeared to render the mood cautious.

The FTSE 100 was at 9,838.10 (up 0.33 points) about a quarter past noon.

DCC, up nearly 2%, was the top gainer in the FTSE 100 index. Rolls-Royce Holdings climbed 1.7%, while Fresnillo, Admiral Group, Melrose Industries and Metlen Energy & Metals gained 1 to 1.2%.

Intercontinental Hotels, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Prudential, SSE, Halma, Reckitt Benckiser, HSBC Holdings and Babcock International posted modest gains.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales dropped unexpectedly in November as the Black Friday shopping event had a slightly weaker impact than usual.

Retail sales dropped marginally by 0.1% in November from a month ago. The decline confounded expectations for an increase of 0.3% but this was slower than October's 0.9% decrease.

Excluding auto fuel, retail sales slid 0.2% after falling 0.8% in the previous month. Economists were expecting a monthly growth of 0.2%.

On a yearly basis, retail sales logged a steady growth of 0.6% in November. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth eased to 1.2% from 1.6% in the prior month.

Survey data from the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions today showed that consumer sentiment improved in December. The consumer confidence index rose to -17 from -19 in the previous month. The reading was the highest since August 2024.

The UK budget deficit hit the lowest for the month of November in four years, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday.

Public sector net borrowing decreased to GBP 11.7 billion in November from GBP 13.6 billion in the previous year. This was the lowest November borrowing since 2021.

In November, borrowing to fund day-to-day public sector activities totaled GBP 5.6 billion, which took the total such borrowing in the financial year to November to GBP 93.0 billion.