LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in major British retailers fell on Thursday after trading updates covering the Christmas period mostly failed to live up to expectations, against a backdrop of turmoil in the UK bond and currency markets.
Shares in Marks & Spencer fell over 6%, their biggest daily drop since March 2023, while Tesco fell 2% and rival Sainsbury dropped 1.8%.
Shares in discount homeware retailer B&M dropped over 8% and baker Greggs fell over 9% and was at the bottom of the STOXX 600 after reporting weaker-than-forecast like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter, citing a “challenging market backdrop”.
By 0840 GMT, those five alone had shed about 2 billion pounds in market value, according to Reuters calculations.
The pound fell to its lowest since November on Thursday, dropping by over 1%, while 10-year gilt yields soared to their highest since 2008, as concern over Britain’s finances intensified.
(Reporting by Samuel Indyk; Editing by Amanda Cooper)
