London open: Stocks gain after better-than-expected GDP figures
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 11 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks gained in early trade on Friday as investors mulled better-than-expected UK GDP data.
At 0822 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 7,972.53.
Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that the economy expanded by 0.5% on the month in February, comfortably beating consensus expectations for a 0.1% increase. This followed no growth in January, revised up from a 0.1% decline.
Services sector growth was 0.3% in February following a 0.1% expansion the month before, and was the largest contributor to the monthly expansion in GDP.
The data also showed that production output grew 1.5% following a 0.5% drop in January, revised up from a 0.9% fall. Construction output grew 0.4% in February following a 0.3% contraction the month before, revised down from a fall of 0.2%.
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "The economy grew strongly in February, with broad-based growth across both services and manufacturing.
"In services, we saw strong performances from sectors like computer programming, telecoms, and car dealerships. Meanwhile, in manufacturing, electronics and pharmaceuticals led the way, and car production also recovered after a run of weaker results.
"Looking at the broader picture, the economy has grown solidly over the past three months, with widespread gains across the services sector."
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "A surprise boost in manufacturing and production were major contributors, and the reading could provide some minor insulation against the potential challenges to come.
"Given the tariff backdrop as well as businesses who are delaying investment and hiring decisions, it remains to be seen whether those headwinds will force the Bank of England to accelerate its interest rate easing plans."
Meanwhile, industry data showed that retail footfall tumbled in March after the late timing of Easter weighed heavily on the high street.
Last year, Easter - a key shopping holiday for many retailers, especially grocers - fell in March. This year, however, it falls notably later, at the end of April.
As a result, tough comparatives meant that total UK footfall was down 5.4% year-on-year in the five weeks to 5 April, sharply lower than February's 0.2% decline.
The BRC-Sensormatic data also showed a 4% decline in footfall on high streets, a 5.8% slide at shopping centres and a more marginal 1.9% fall in retail parks.
The exception was Mother's Day, which fell on 30 March and saw a 13.4% uplift year-on-year in high street footfall.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "With Easter falling in April, footfall in March could not compete to last year, when families were already enjoying their Easter holidays.
"Despite this, footfall in retail parks held up better than other locations, as the expanding offer of hospitality and leisure outlets alongside retail, together with free parking, attracted more shoppers.
"Similarly, London saw only a minor dip in footfall compared to other parts of the country."
However, she warned: "Global uncertainties from tariffs and a potential economic slowdown could reduce the appetite for shopping trips in the coming months."
Andy Sumpter, EMEA retail consultant at Sensormatic, said: "After a bumpy few months, March made for disappointing footfall, as shopper and business confidence remains subdued, not helped by ongoing economic uncertainty and pre-spring statement jitters.
"Retailers will be hoping that strong Easter trading could help balance out a slow start to spring."
In equity markets, energy giant BP fell after saying it expects to report lower first-quarter upstream production than in the previous three months.
In a trading update, the company said it saw slightly higher volumes in oil production and operations, but expected lower output in gas and low-carbon energy. Gas marketing and trading is expected to be "weak", it added.
BP was also affected by a downgrade to 'neutral' at UBS.
On the upside, precious metals miner Fresnillo shone, while heavily-weighted miners Glencore, Rio, Antofagasta and Anglo American advanced.
Croda fell after a downgrade to 'sell' at Goldman Sachs and Schroders was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underperform' at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,972.53 0.75%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,604.77 0.47%
techMARK (TASX) 4,312.00 0.60%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 956.00p 3.58%
Glencore (GLEN) 250.15p 2.10%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 74.96p 2.10%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 156.10p 2.03%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 338.10p 1.90%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,286.50p 1.87%
Tesco (TSCO) 320.40p 1.84%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 746.70p 1.77%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,481.50p 1.75%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,923.40p 1.70%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Croda International (CRDA) 2,582.00p -1.56%
Schroders (SDR) 298.80p -1.19%
BP (BP.) 337.95p -1.07%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,110.00p -0.67%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,957.00p -0.61%
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 1,005.00p -0.30%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 245.20p -0.20%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,468.00p -0.19%
Alliance Witan (ALW) 1,104.00p -0.18%
St James's Place (STJ) 859.80p -0.07%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,644.00p 4.71%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 53.70p 4.47%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 288.00p 3.97%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 116.20p 3.84%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,939.00p 2.97%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 151.20p 2.86%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 275.60p 2.84%
THG (THG) 29.18p 2.60%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 453.90p 2.46%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 280.20p 2.41%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ninety One (N91) 124.40p -3.64%
Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 120.00p -2.76%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 550.00p -2.65%
Trainline (TRN) 268.20p -2.47%
Kier Group (KIE) 120.60p -2.27%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 303.50p -1.78%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 250.40p -1.73%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 117.80p -1.67%
Just Group (JUST) 128.00p -1.54%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 3,255.00p -1.51%
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