{"id":67880,"date":"2025-12-19T12:25:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T12:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/12\/19\/ftse-100-flat-in-cautious-trade\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:25:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T12:25:41","slug":"ftse-100-flat-in-cautious-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/12\/19\/ftse-100-flat-in-cautious-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"FTSE 100 Flat In Cautious Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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.<\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 was at 9,838.10 (up 0.33 points) about a quarter past noon. <\/p>\n

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%.<\/p>\n

Intercontinental Hotels, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Prudential, SSE, Halma, Reckitt Benckiser, HSBC Holdings and Babcock International posted modest gains. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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%.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

The UK budget deficit hit the lowest for the month of November in four years, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n