London close: FTSE finishes flat as bookies tussle, builders subside
London stocks finished broadly flat on Friday, very modestly in the red on the day but making a small gain over the week, with traders keeping an eye on Black Friday deals, which included an apparent M&A tussle among bookmakers.
The FTSE 100 closed down 7.6 points at 7,409.64, while the pound was down 0.5% against the euro at 1.1173 and 0.2% firmer versus the dollar at 1.3334.
"With the exception of the FTSE 100 European equity markets have had a positive session," said analyst David Madden at CMC Markets.
"Optimism in the eurozone is high as Germany revealed a very strong reading on IFO business confidence survey. This report came one after Germany and France posted impressive services and manufacturing figures. The strength of the single currency hasn’t hurt the Continental stock exchanges.
"The Social Democrats in Germany are to meet with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on Thursday to discuss the possibility of forming a government. The Social Democrats haven’t fared in the past for deals with the CDU, so there is no guarantee a deal will be struck, but the potential for a positive political outcome is boosting Germany stocks."
Retailers were in focus in the UK and US as Black Friday sales kicked off, with Next on the back foot as it took part in the event for the first time, despite CEO Simon Wolfson having previously said it "doesn’t make sense to get involved".
IG analyst Joshua Mahony said: "Today sees UK shoppers spending an expected £8m as Black Friday sales fever grips the nation a month before Christmas. With the retail sector struggling, the increasingly discount driven shopping in recent years have provided yet another hit to the high street, with the big names such as Amazon leading the race to the bottom on prices.
While billions will be spent in the UK today, UK consumer confidence has hit the lowest level since the EU referendum, paving the way for what could be a disappointing holiday season for retailers.
A consumer confidence index compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research and YouGov slipped to 106.6 in November, dropping sharply from 109.3 the month before. The survey found the largest monthly decline in optimism since the July 2016, with declines in all eight measures that make up the index.
William Hill was on the back foot after confirming it is in "very preliminary" talks with Australia's Crown Resorts about a possible merger of their local online businesses. However, Paddy Power Betfair jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board following a Reuters report that it has held talks to explore a possible tie-up with the CrownBet unit.
Anglo-German tour operator Tui was top of the London leaderboard, boosted by the German bullishness.
Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey led the decline as analysts and investors mulled the Budget.
Rio Tinto slipped after it said that it and China's Sinosteel Corporation have agreed to extend their Channar Mining joint venture. The third extension of the joint venture would see an additional 10 million tonnes of iron ore delivered into the venture from Western Australia.
Residential landlord Grainger nudged lower after announcing the acquisition of a stabilised portfolio of three blocks in Manchester, comprising 192 private rented sector homes, for £26m.
Beleaguered doorstep lender Provident Financial retreated as it said that executive chairman Manjit Wolstenholme has died. Malcolm Le May, senior independent director, has been appointed interim executive chairman with immediate effect.
James Fisher slumped as it reported a rise in revenue for the 10 months to the end of October but warned that the full-year contribution from its offshore oil division will be lower than last year.
Whitbread was weaker after AlphaValue cut the stock to 'reduce' and UBM was down after a downgrade to 'hold' by Liberum, which upgraded rival Informa in its place. Experian also gained following an upgrade at Exane BNP Paribas.
Data released by UK Finance earlier showed mortgage approvals fell more than expected in October and credit card lending also decreased.
The number of new home loans approved declined to 40,488 from 41,576 in September, missing expectations for a smaller drop to 40,900 and hitting their lowest level since September last year. Approvals were a little weaker than the monthly average of 41,447 over the previous six months and 3% lower than in October 2016
However, remortgaging approvals rose to 34,036 from 30,499, well up on the monthly average of 27,163 over the last six months and 36% higher than in October last year.
Credit card lending slowed to 5.1% last month from 5.5% in September.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,413.24 -0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,957.93 -0.24%
techMARK (TASX) 3,468.72 -0.31%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,835.00p 3.51%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,359.50p 2.06%
3i Group (III) 931.50p 1.91%
Experian (EXPN) 1,581.00p 1.87%
Informa (INF) 761.00p 1.26%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,364.00p 1.04%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,374.00p 1.02%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,621.00p 1.00%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 361.70p 0.98%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,475.00p 0.86%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Persimmon (PSN) 2,550.00p -3.81%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 603.50p -2.82%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 192.00p -2.49%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 667.25p -2.23%
Next (NXT) 4,317.00p -1.55%
WPP (WPP) 1,255.00p -1.49%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,138.00p -1.34%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,108.00p -1.31%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,682.00p -1.29%
ITV (ITV) 150.55p -1.21%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 116.20p 4.31%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 250.90p 4.11%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 358.50p 3.22%
esure Group (ESUR) 252.34p 2.16%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 839.00p 2.01%
888 Holdings (888) 258.90p 1.81%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 840.00p 1.69%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 293.60p 1.59%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,335.00p 1.52%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 176.70p 1.38%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,194.00p -3.40%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,382.50p -3.11%
Capita (CPI) 467.00p -2.99%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 214.40p -2.85%
Serco Group (SRP) 93.85p -2.75%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 267.20p -2.66%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 503.50p -2.61%
Mitie Group (MTO) 202.60p -2.50%
Provident Financial (PFG) 887.00p -2.42%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 274.90p -2.28%