Retailers were on the front foot yesterday after Debenhams and Asos posted solid results and outlined plans to expand.
Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, said: “In a heavy day for corporate reports, the clothes retailers have been interesting to watch.”
Debenhams hailed a resurgent year as it announced plans to open a further 17 UK stores over the next five years and raised its online sales target. The department store chain topped the FTSE 250 as shares jumped 9 per cent, or 10p, to 119p, and helped other retail stocks to make headway. Beneficiaries included JD Sports Fashion, which lifted 12p to 752p, and Dixons Retail Group with an improvement of 0.3p to 21p.
Aim-quoted fashion firm Asos posted half-year figures describing an optimistic outlook for 2013. But a 42 per cent hike in profits failed to boost shares as the online retailer poured cold water on market talk of a bid by internet giant Amazon. The stock dropped 7 per cent, down 167p to 2,326p.
Banks were on the risers’ board despite a hefty profits drop at Spanish lender Santander.
Aided by better-than-expected figures for the UK economy, Barclays added 2.95p to 232.9p and Lloyds was 1 per cent higher at 40.7p. But the FTSE 100 Index gave up morning gains to finish virtually unchanged at 5,805.1 amid warnings that further quantitative easing now looked less likely.
NEW YORK: US stocks eked out small gains last night in another uninspiring session on Wall Street, with worries about weak business spending keeping investors wary.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 26.34 points, or 0.20 per cent, to end the day at 13,103.68 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 4.23 points, or 0.30 per cent, to finish at 1,412.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.42 points, to close at 2,986.12.