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Stock prices in Europe barely budged on Friday morning as investors took stock after a trio of central bank decisions, with the most recent being a Bank of Japan hike. The Bank of England had cut on Thursday, while the European Central Bank held. Also on Thursday, US data showed consumer price inflation was cooler than expected. ‘The BoJ has just hiked its policy rate, there was no change from the ECB and a cut from the BoE at respective December policy meetings over the last 24 hours. So a bit of everything then. And the variety in outcomes didn’t stop there, even though none of these headline policy decisions was a surprise. There seemed to be particularly incongruous contrasting messages when comparing the ECB and BoE. The ECB’s new staff macroeconomic projections were upgraded,’ analysts at Lloyds Bank commented. ‘But the policy message at [Christine] Lagarde’s press conference didn’t track in the same direction. She avoided the temptation to when prompted in Q&A to follow [Isabel] Schnabel’s recent expressed preference for the next move in rates being up. Instead, a ’unanimous’ view that all options stay on the table and repetition of the ’we’re in a good place’ motto was what we got. It was the opposite at the BoE. The monetary policy statement clearly acknowledged inflation falling back more quickly than expected, ’building slack’ in the labour market and ’subdued’ activity. But the tone on policy strategy tended hawkish with further easing judgements seen as a ’closer call’ and multiple references to ’accumulation of evidence’ being needed for future cuts.’ The FTSE 100 index traded up 6.86 points, 0.1%, at 9,844.63. The FTSE 250 was down 35.68 points, 0.2%, at 22,289.91, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.73 points, 0.4%, at 759.09. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 987.28, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 19,402.10, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 17,335.80. The CAC 40 in Paris and Frankfurt’s DAX 40 were flat. Sterling fell to $1.3373 early Friday, from $1.3387 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at $1.1710, down from $1.1730. UK retail sales were weaker than expected in November, numbers on Friday showed, declining on-month and registering tamer on-year growth than forecast. The Office for National Statistics said retail sales volumes shrunk 0.1% in November from October on a seasonally-adjusted basis, shy of an FXStreet cited forecast for a 0.4% rise. ‘Non-store retailers’ volumes dipped as demand for gold slowed, while supermarkets fell for the fourth consecutive month,’ the ONS said. In October, sales fell 0.9%, an outcome upwardly revised from an initially reported 1.1% decline. ‘This is another grim reading on the health of the UK economy,’ Wealth Club analyst Jonathan Moyes said. UK public sector borrowing was higher than expected last month, but shrunk on year, numbers on Friday showed. According to the Office for National Statistics, net borrowing amounted to £11.65 billion in November, falling from £13.55 billion a year prior and £21.19 billion in October. It was the lowest November borrowing figure since 2021, the ONS said. However, it topped an FXStreet cited forecast of £10.2 billion. Against the yen, the buck jumped to JP¥156.83 early Friday from JP¥155.46 late Thursday afternoon UK time. The Bank of Japan increased its benchmark rate, as expected. The central bank said interest rates were raised by 25 basis points to 0.75% from 0.50%. ‘If the outlook presented in the October 2025 outlook report will be realised, the bank, in accordance with improvement in economic activity and prices, will continue to raise the policy interest rate and adjust the degree of monetary accommodation,’ the BoJ said in a statement. Earlier Friday, numbers showed Japan’s consumer price inflation rate ebbed in November. According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, consumer prices rose 2.9% annually in November, easing from 3.0% in October, but still loftier than the BoJ’s 2% target. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%, while the Hang Seng Index advanced 0.8%. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4%. In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.4%. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened to 4.14% on Friday morning UK time, from 4.11% late Thursday afternoon. The 30-year yield stretched to 4.83% from 4.79%. A barrel of Brent fell to $59.63 early Friday, from $60.23 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. Gold declined to $4,325.54 an ounce from $4,370.61. In London, WH Smith shares fell 2.9%. It said annual profit weakened markedly, as the retailer suffered a ‘difficult end to the year’. Interim Chief Executive Andrew Harrison says the firm is ‘acutely aware that we have much to do to rebuild confidence’ in the wake of a damning review which found ‘shortcomings’ in accounting treatments in its North American division. In the year to August 31, pretax profit from continuing operations slumped 97% to GP2 million from £65 million a year prior, WH Smith says. Trading profit weakened 4.9% to £173 million from £182 million. Before non-underlying items, pretax profit fell 3.8% to £102 million from £106 million. Revenue, however, improved 5.4% to £1.55 billion from £1.47 billion. In the final 13 weeks of the year, like-for-like revenue grew 3%. Among large-caps, housebuilders were the worst performers. Persimmon shed 1.7%, Barratt Redrow fell 1.5% and Berkeley Group lost 1.4%. The trio had all risen after the BoE’s rate cut on Thursday. Elsewhere, Strix surged 13%. It has struck a deal to sell its Billi business for £110.0 million. The supplier of kettle safety controls and other devices for water heating and temperature control, steam management, and water filtration said Billi includes Strix Australia and each regional subsidiary. The buyer is Birmingham Bidco, an Australian firm incorporated by Crescent Capital Partners, the manager of the private equity fund known as Crescent Capital Partners VII. Crescent Capital Partners is a Sydney-based private equity and alternative asset management firm. Strix added: ‘As previously announced, the group has encountered certain macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, particularly within its Controls division, owing in part to indirect tariff impacts and a weakening US dollar. This has led to lower than anticipated trading, a weakened financial performance and an increase in the group’s net debt leverage position. ‘In order to mitigate the impact of this, the group has already initiated a number of key actions to enhance working capital efficiency and maintain careful control of operational and capital expenditure. In connection with this, the board has also been considering a number of more permanent strategic options to help enhance the financial position of the group.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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