FTSE 100 Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - UK stocks gained some ground in positive territory on Friday amid cautious optimism about some progress in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations. Investors also digested mixed economic data.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 22.52 points or 0.22% at 10,465.99 a few minutes past noon.

Games Workshop climbed nearly 4%. The miniature wargames maker forecast annual profit before tax above expectations.

Croda International moved up 3.85% and BT Group gained 3.25%. Marks & Spencer, Persimmon, Scottish Mortgage, Whitbread, Metlen Energy & Metals, 3i Group, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Diploma, Berkeley Group Holdings, LSEG, British Land, JD Sports Fashion, Diageo and Halma gained 1.3%-3%.

British IT reseller Softcat soared nearly 13% after raising its full-year profit guidance.

Convatec Group, Lion Finance, RightMove, Burberry Group and Prudential drifted down 2%-3%.

ICG, BP, Endeavour Mining, Smiths Group, Informa, AutoTrader Group and British American Tobacco also shed ground.

In economic news, UK retail sales declined at the fastest pace in nearly a year in April as consumers reduced fuel purchases after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East.

Retail sales declined 1.3% on a monthly basis in April, in contrast to the revised 0.6% rise in March, the Office for National Statistics reported. This was the biggest fall since May 2025 and exceeded economists' forecast of a 0.6% drop.

On a yearly basis, retail sales unexpectedly remained flat after rising 1.4 percent in March. Economists were expecting an annual growth of 1.3 percent.

The UK consumer sentiment index rose two points to -23 in May on improving perceptions of both personal finances and their wider economy, a survey published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed.

The index measuring changes in personal finances over the last twelve months increased four points to -7 and the forecast for personal finances gained two points to -2. Assessment about past general economic situation climbed four points to -47 and their expectations moved up five points to -38.