London’s FTSE 100 experienced another challenging day, extending its tough start to the year, with Marks and Spencer leading the index lower after refraining from updating its full-year guidance despite a “solid” third-quarter performance.
The FTSE 100 closed down 75.17 points, or 0.98%, at 7576.59, marking a year-to-date loss of about 2%. Marks and Spencer’s caution about the impact of higher-than-anticipated wage and business rate costs contributed to the negative sentiment.
Barclays and Lloyds banks also struggled during the day, with Barclays warning about challenging conditions in its investment banking division for the final quarter of the year. Overall, the banking sector faced difficulties due to concerns about fourth-quarter results.
In company news, Tesco announced that its profits are expected to surpass previous estimates as it successfully retained customers amid competition from rivals Lidl and Aldi. Despite the positive performance, Tesco’s shares closed down 1.27%.
Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn, reported an 11% rise in accommodation sales for the three months ending November, outperforming other low-cost rivals. This led to a 2.34% increase in shares.
