Retail stocks weigh on FTSE as high street downturn persists

The FTSE 100 moved 42.17 points lower, or 0.55%, closing at 7,640.33.

UK high street sales fell for the fifth month in a row in February, BDO said (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

UK stock markets have started the week on the back foot with the FTSE 100 dragged lower by retailers as new figures showed shoppers continue to cut back.

The FTSE 100 moved 42.17 points lower, or 0.55%, closing at 7,640.33. Ocado Group tumbled by more than 8% during the day while retailers Next, Kingfisher and Burberry were among the day’s biggest fallers.

Figures from BDO showed that sales fell in February, compared with the year before, for the fifth month in a row.

It marks the longest downturn since 2020 when shops were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under-pressure retailers are facing weaker demand from consumers, as well as delays and higher costs caused by disruption in the Red Sea, BDO said.

The weak session comes despite the Prime Minister claiming the UK economy is “on the right track”, ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivering his pre-election Budget on Wednesday.

In Frankfurt, the Dax was down 0.11% while in Paris the Cac 40 moved 0.24% higher.

Over in the US, the S&P 500 was down about 0.05% and Dow Jones down 0.2% by the time European markets closed.

It was a positive session for the pound, which was up 0.35% against the US dollar to 1.27, and up 0.1% against the euro to 1.169.

It was another strong session for oil, with the price of Brent crude oil jumping by 1.5% to 83.20 US dollars (£65.54) per barrel.

In company news, shares in Hipgnosis Songs Fund dropped to an all-time low on Monday after the music royalties investment firm slashed the value of its songs catalogue by more than a quarter.

The embattled business, which has been in the midst of a management dispute, also said it would need to focus on paying down debts rather than restarting shareholder dividend payouts anytime soon. Its share price closed 8.2% lower.

Vertu Motors delivered some good news for investors with positive used car sales figures, showing signs of recovery for the market which saw hefty price drops at the end of last year.

The group said prices had stabilised in recent weeks. Nevertheless, it still reported decline in the volume of new car sales in recent months. Shares in Vertu were up by 3.7% at close.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, up 44p to 1,368p, Fresnillo, up 12.5p to 476.1p, Melrose Industries, up 14.2p to 640p, Pearson, up 21p to 1,035p, and BT, up 1.5p to 106.15p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, down 72p to 844.8p, Ocado, down 31p to 445p, St James’s Place, down 20.6p to 491.2p, Anglo American, down 58.4p to 1,702.4p, and Kingfisher, down 6.3p to 226.1p.