Blue chips failed to build on gains over the shortened trading week as the FTSE 100 dropped eight points to 8,128 early on Friday.
Stocks had made small gains ahead of the Christmas break as they recovered from a sharp drop in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting and hawkish commentary on rate cuts ahead.
Meanwhile, Boxing Day failed to bring a festive boost for brick-and-mortar retailers, according to preliminary figures from MRI Software.
Footfall across Britain’s high streets had dropped by 9.6% year on year come Thursday evening, while shopping centres faced a 5.1% drop. Including online shopping channels, overall activity fell by 7.6% across all UK retail destinations.
Looking at some of the morning's movers, Anglo American led the decline with a 1.4% drop, ahead of the likes of Haleon and National Grid.
DS Smith topped the risers in the meantime in the absence of any major movers, gaining 1.3%.
And British Gas owner Centrica has begun buying back an additional £300 million worth of shares to take repurchases to £1.5 billion since November 2022.