Summary: Automobiles and parts index leads losses BT, Sage group worst FTSE perfomers Barclays gains on bank’s cost saving plans FTSE 100 down 0.4%, FTSE 250 off 0.3% A street cleaning operative walks past the London Stock Exchange Group building in the City of London financial district, whilst British stocks tumble as investors fear that the coronavirus outbreak could stall the global economy, in London, Britain, March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
UK stocks fell on Friday in a broad selloff, led by losses in the automotive and personal goods sectors, while a survey showed that British consumers were more optimistic about their outlook for the economy in November.
The benchmark FTSE 100 (.FTSE) edged 0.4% lower and the midcap index (.FTMC) slid 0.3%. Both the indexes were on track to log weekly declines.
All sectors were in the red, with automobiles and parts (.FTNMX401010) and personal goods (.FTNMX402040) indexes leading the declines.
Market research firm GfK on Friday said British consumers have turned more optimistic about their outlook for the economy and their personal finances this month, but their mood remained a long way off pre-Covid levels.
“By historic standards, consumer confidence is still low, weighed down by broader pressures of a sluggish economic backdrop, prices which are generally still much higher than they were before the pandemic,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor.
Among individual stocks, Barclays (BARC.L) climbed 0.3% after Reuters reported the British bank is working on plans to save as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion), which could involve cutting as many as 2,000 jobs, mainly in the back office.
Both BT Group (BT.L) and Sage Group (SGE.L) dropped 1.9% each on profit taking and were the worst performers on FTSE. Sage had hit a record high earlier this week after stellar results.
Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill told Financial Times on Friday that the central bank had to hold firm in its battle against inflation and it cannot afford to loosen tight monetary policy.
Meanwhile, in a fresh boost to Britain’s auto industry, Japanese carmaker Nissan said it will invest 1.12 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) to build electric versions of two popular crossover models at its UK plant.
Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil
