After struggling most of the day, the FTSE 100 has ended trading with a small drop of 1 point, or 0.02%, to 5,497.9, despite a determined rally from retailers including Next.
News from the department store group, John Lewis, that the cold weather was luring shoppers back into stores, with a surge in demand for winter clothing and Christmas gifts, helped drive other retailers higher with Kingfisher, Next and DSG International all leading the charge. Next was at the top of the leaderboard with gains of 36p, or 2.65%, to 1,392p, closely followed by DSG International, which jumped 2.75p, or 1.87%, to 150p, while Kingfisher came in a little way behind with an advance of 1.49% to 221.25p. Meanwhile, shares in Glaxo headed the losers with a drop of 58p, or 3.87%, t...
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