U.K. stocks were little changed on Tuesday after data showed U.K. retail sales declined for the first time since last spring.
Total sales decreased 1.3 percent on a yearly basis in January as the current lockdown has hit non-essential retailers harder than in November, data from the British Retail Consortium showed. Like-for-like sales grew 7.1 percent.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was marginally lower at 6,518 after gaining half a percent on Monday.
Online retail company Ocado fell over 1 percent after narrowing its annual loss.
G4S edged up slightly. The security services group said trading had remained resilient in the final months of 2020.
Bellway shares rallied 2.7 percent. The property developer said it now expects housing completions for the full year to July 31, 2021 to increase to around 9,800 homes versus 7,522 last year.
Software company Micro Focus surged 4.1 percent after reinstating its dividend.
Market Analysis
FTSE 100 Little Changed After Weak Data
2021-02-09 09:40:37
