Supermarkets shocked by food inflation figures: market round up
Alarm bells were ringing in some of the best-known high streets in the London market today, with retailers and banks being hit hard by new inflation concerns and the outlook for UK interest rates.
Supermarket chains were shocked by figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showing high food prices, pushing retail inflation to new all-time highs.
Tesco, the country’s largest single retailer, fell 6p to 210p, its lowest share price since early 2019. Sainsbury, one of Tesco’s main rivals, lost 7p to 182p, its lowest level since 2020. strong competition from the German discount chain Aldi. and Lidl, which are rapidly gaining market share as household budgets are under pressure.
But the unease was deep enough to hit the domestic discounter B&M. Shares in the 700 outlet chain fell 7p to 302p.
James Hughes, Analyst at Scope Markets, said: “The BRC figures mean that households are likely to be more cautious about spending in the fall. It is striking that even the typically resilient supermarkets are stepping up in the markets, with food inflation fueling concerns.”
The major banks also continued to be under severe pressure, as city traders continued to expect the Bank of England’s fight against inflation to become even more aggressive.
Lloyds Banking Group – the owner of the Halifax and one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders to withdraw fixed-rate home loans this week – was 1.3p weaker at 42p. NatWest, another major player in the mortgage market, fell 7p to 225p.
Rightmove, the online brokerage and real estate portal that is often the first step for home hunters, landed on the list of the biggest fallers, dropping from 13p to 489p.
The sell-off caused the FTSE 100 to drop an aggregate 128 points to 6855.75, putting it on track to close below 7,000 for the second straight session. The declines were also broad, with only six components making gains, mostly defensive stocks, including British American Tobacco, up 15p to 3389p and vaccine maker GSK, up 16p to 1332p.
The FTSE 250, home to a range of domestic UK stocks, fell 393 points to 16910.58, returning to its early March lows of around 15200.
JD Wetherspoons, the pub chain and high street favorite, bottomed out in the mid-cap market, falling 47p to 402p.