London stocks ended in the black on Friday as investors mulled the latest retail sales and borrowing figures, having taken a leg higher in the afternoon.
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.6% at 9,897.42.

Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at IG, said: "Stock markets around the globe saw another day of strong gains on the back of Thursday's post soft US inflation rally."

On home shores, data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales softened in November, undershooting expectations for a small rise, after Black Friday failed to bolster demand.

Retail sales volumes were estimated to have fallen by 0.1% on a seasonally-adjusted basis, following an upwardly revised fall of 0.9% in October. Analysts had been expecting a 0.4% uplift.

In the three months to November, sales rose 0.6%, boosted by strong performances from both clothing shops and computer and telecommunication retailers. However, the three-month rise was below expectations, for a 0.9% increase.

Seasonally-adjusted figures strip out the effect of Black Friday, which this year was on 28 November; last year it fell into the ONS's December reporting period.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, sales volumes jumped 11.9%, compared with a 4.4% rise in October.

The ONS said data suggested that the Black Friday effect was "slightly weaker than usual" this year.

According to its own research into public opinions, less than a third of adults said they planned to shop in the Black Friday sales.

Separate figures from the ONS showed that government borrowing hit a four-year low in November.

Borrowing - which is the difference between total public sector spending and income - came in at £11.7bn, down £1.9bn on November 2024 and the lowest borrowing figure for that month since 2021. Nevertheless, it was above economists' expectations for a decline to £10bn.

Borrowing in the financial year to November was £132.3bn, up £10bn on the same period a year earlier and the second-highest April to November borrowing on record after that of 2020.

ONS senior statistician Tom Davies said: "Despite an increase in spending, this month's borrowing was the lowest November for four years. The main reason for the drop from last year was increased receipts from taxes and National Insurance contributions.

"However, across the financial year to date as a whole, borrowing is higher than last year."

Investors were also digesting the latest survey from GfK, which revealed that consumer confidence improved a little in December but remained subdued.

The Confederation of British Industry's latest Distributive Trades survey was also in focus. It revealed that retail sales fell in December as the outlook "darkened".

In equity markets, precious metals miner Fresnillo was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as silver prices hit a record high.

Cruise operator Carnival surged as it reinstated dividend payments and reported a jump in annual profits.

Housebuilders were the worst performers, with Barratt Redrow, Persimmon, Berkeley, Vistry and Bellway all lower.

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, put weakness in the sector down to investors responding "to the reality that we could be approaching the end of the current rate-cutting cycle" after Thursday's 25 basis point rate cut from the Bank of England.

She said hopes for a significant drop in mortgage costs in the coming months were beginning "to fade away".

WH Smith slumped as it said the Financial Conduct Authority has begun an investigation into the group after accounting failures in its US operations and after it reported a drop in full-year profit before tax and non-underlying items to £108m from £114m.

The company also said it was looking to recover overpaid bonuses from former executive directors following the restatement of profits in the 2023 and 2024 financial years.

JD Sports was in the red as Nike shares tumbled on the back of weak China sales.

Retailers Marks & Spencer and B&M also fell on the back of the softer-than-expected retail sales data.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,897.42 0.61%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,325.59 0.00%
techMARK (TASX) 5,598.38 0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,170.00p 2.86%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,170.00p 2.27%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 576.60p 1.98%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,850.00p 1.78%
Shell (SHEL) 2,703.00p 1.54%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,980.00p 1.45%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,167.00p 1.44%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,250.00p 1.38%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,186.00p 1.27%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 10,585.00p 1.24%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 368.70p -2.67%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 84.44p -2.58%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,317.00p -2.37%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,884.00p -1.77%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 326.60p -1.66%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,560.00p -1.50%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 601.00p -1.48%
WPP (WPP) 334.40p -1.47%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,094.00p -1.32%
BT Group (BT.A) 183.35p -1.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Carnival (CCL) 2,313.00p 16.64%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 100.00p 4.38%
Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,812.00p 3.54%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 114.80p 3.42%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,910.00p 3.17%
OSB Group (OSB) 632.00p 2.85%
RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.21p 2.31%
Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust (AIE) 272.50p 2.25%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 51.00p 2.00%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 362.20p 1.97%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

WH Smith (SMWH) 637.00p -7.01%
Currys (CURY) 129.40p -4.92%
Pinewood Technologies Group (PINE) 350.00p -4.50%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 499.50p -3.38%
Premier Foods (PFD) 173.80p -3.34%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 162.85p -2.89%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 677.50p -2.73%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 75.85p -2.69%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 224.80p -2.60%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 934.70p -2.25%