FTSE 100 eked out a small gain early on signs that inflation pressure in Britian might finally be starting to ease.
The Footsie was up five points at 7,689 as data from the British Retail Consortium showed shop prices rose at the slowest for nearly two years in February. Market data firm Kantar, meanwhile, said grocery price inflation dropped to 5.3% this month, its lowest since March 2022 even with a Valentine’s Day splurge.
Fund manager abrdn was a big early riser after investors waded through eight separate RNS announcements to get to the decision to hold the dividend even with more outflows from its funds. Abrdn’s profits were also higher than expected though job cuts were confirmed.
On the Beach was another healthy riser as the travel agent signed an agreement with Ryanair, despite the airline having called it a ‘pirate’ just weeks ago. Shares in On the Beach rose 10%.