After substantial swings in the FTSE 100 index on Tuesday and Wednesday, the UK market enjoyed a much more sedate session yesterday.
Footsie moved in a narrow range of 46.1 points as investors grappled with the issue of whether hopes for interest rate cuts were more significant than worries about corporate earnings.
The latest UK economic data showed that retail sales were sluggish in December, growing just 0.1 per cent (seasonally adjusted) from November. The annual rate of growth slipped to 4.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent in November. The figures also showed that pressure on prices in the high street remained intense.
All told, the data released so far this week has done little to discourage the view that the Bank of England will have the scope to cut interest rates in the coming months.
But the outlook for corporate earnings continued to cause concern. The latest batch of profit warnings came from Photo-Me, SCI Entertainment and Abbeycrest.
By the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 12.5 at 6,209.9, and there were also modest gains for the junior indices, with the FTSE 250 gaining 13.3 to 6,664.9 and the SmallCap 14.8 ahead at 3,257.0.
Although the broad market indices were little moved, there were signs of a further sectoral shift in the market. The technology, media and telecom stocks continued their recent revival with TMTs producing eight of the top 10 performances in the FTSE 100.
The Techmark 100 index of leading technology stocks advanced 70.77 to 2,726.64 after IBM released better than expected figures late on Wednesday. Meanwhile pharmaceutical, fund management and banking stocks lost ground.
Turnover slipped below the two billion mark, with just 1.95 billion shares traded.
