London midday: Stocks dip as investors shrug off strong retail sales

21st May 2015 11:58

Stronger-than-expected retail sales data wasn't enough to boost London's stocks on Thursday with markets rangebound as the FTSE 100 continues to fluctuate around the 7,000 mark.UK retail sales jumped 1.2% in April, according to the Office for National Statistics, more than making up for the 0.7% decline in March and smashing the consensus forecast of +0.4%.The 'beat' lifted expectations that national economic growth will regain momentum after a slowdown in the first quarter. "April's strong retail sales figures offer another reason to think that the economic recovery is not about to fizzle out," said Paul Hollingsworth at Capital Economics.Nevertheless, the FTSE 100 dropped into the red following the data and was trading down 0.08% at 7,001.72 by midday, with just 30 points or so separating its intraday low (6,997.76) and high (7,026.01).Concerns about Greece continued to rumble on in the background following comments from the German finance minister that he could not rule out a Greek default. Meanwhile, ratings agency Moody's has warned Athens that without an agreement over a cash-for-reforms deal with creditors, the government will have to impose capital controls on its banks to stem an outflow of funds.According to reports, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to present a debt-restructuring proposal at a two-day summit of EU leaders which starts on Thursday in Riga.Elsewhere, the 'flash' Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) jumped to a 13-month high of 52.3, better than consensus expectations for a reading of 51.8, but the services PMI dropped to a four-month low of 53.3 and fell short of expectations for a reading of 53.9.Expectations of further stimulus in China spurred Asian stock markets overnight, as the HSBC China manufacturing PMI came in shy of forecasts. The PMI rose from 48.9 to 49.1 this month, showing that the rate of decline had slowed, though it still missed the consensus forecast of 49.3.Ex-div stocks provide a dragBunzl, Carnival, HSBC, Intertek and Taylor Wimpey all went ex-dividend on Thursday, collectively taking 6.41 points off the FTSE 100.Nevertheless, mining stocks were doing the best to buoy the index with Fresnillo, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all on the rise.Royal Mail was flat after meeting forecasts with its annual profits but giving a somewhat cautious statement on the highly competitive market. Full-year revenues were just about flat at £9.3bn, with pre-tax profit slumping by more than two thirds, as expected, to £400m.Technology outfit Smiths Group edged higher after reiterating guidance for full-year growth in spite of a weakening of underlying results over the first three quarters.Electricity and gas utility group National Grid hailed "another successful year" as it beat forecasts with an 11% increase in adjusted annual profits, though investors were left underwhelmed with smaller-than-expected increase in the dividend.Food wholesaler Booker jumped after beating full-year earnings forecasts and proposing a deal to buy Musgrave Retail Partner, which comprises the Londis and Budgens businesses, for £40m.Market MoverstechMARK 3,279.14 +0.20%FTSE 100 7,001.72 -0.08%FTSE 250 18,113.60 -0.12%FTSE 100 - RisersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 446.20p +1.66%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,185.00p +1.11%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,146.00p +1.06%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,269.00p +1.03%Sports Direct International (SPD) 657.50p +1.00%Fresnillo (FRES) 766.50p +0.99%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,409.00p +0.97%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,891.50p +0.85%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,018.00p +0.77%Vodafone Group (VOD) 240.60p +0.73%FTSE 100 - FallersTaylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.40p -3.86%Carnival (CCL) 3,142.00p -1.84%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 557.00p -1.76%British Land Company (BLND) 861.50p -1.66%Hammerson (HMSO) 679.00p -1.59%easyJet (EZJ) 1,623.00p -1.58%SSE (SSE) 1,656.00p -1.49%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,596.00p -1.41%Mondi (MNDI) 1,502.00p -1.25%Intu Properties (INTU) 342.50p -1.24%FTSE 250 - RisersBooker Group (BOK) 167.30p +10.07%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 232.30p +7.95%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 3,275.00p +5.24%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,900.00p +5.09%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 212.40p +4.68%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 107.00p +3.48%Premier Oil (PMO) 169.30p +2.79%Tullow Oil (TLW) 416.00p +2.72%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 893.00p +2.53%Rank Group (RNK) 206.00p +2.39%FTSE 250 - FallersDairy Crest Group (DCG) 483.00p -6.76%Electrocomponents (ECM) 234.30p -6.05%SSP Group (SSPG) 299.50p -4.07%Inchcape (INCH) 860.00p -3.80%Redefine International (RDI) 55.80p -3.54%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 148.10p -2.63%Northgate (NTG) 629.00p -2.48%Provident Financial (PFG) 3,045.00p -2.25%Just Eat (JE.) 437.20p -2.19%Computacenter (CCC) 732.00p -2.14%