London stocks failed to hold onto Thursday’s strong gains as trading got underway on Friday.
Shortly after the open, the FTSE 100 was down nine points at 8,250, with Entain, BAE Systems and HSBC all weighing on the index.
UNITE Group was among the early risers in the meantime, as were Vodafone and Fresnillo.
Shell and BP also rose as they benefitted from the firmer oil price.
And retailers’ hopes for a Christmas-fueled revival were dashed as footfall fell in December to cap off a poor fourth quarter and tough year as a whole.
According to the British Retail Consortium, footfall in UK shops declined by 2.2% year on year last month. That followed a 4.5% drop in November, taking footfall for the final quarter of 2024 2.5% lower.