Or has the squeeze on real wages finally taken its toll on consumer confidence? There were mixed messages last week, with a better than expected trading update from Next but a profit warning from Debenhams. Overnight we have had the latest retail spending data from Visa and IHS Markit which shows that retail spending fell by 1 per cent in December, contributing to a 0.3 per cent drop for the whole of 2017, the first annual decline since 2012. The FTSE 100, which closed at a record 7,724.22 on Friday, opened one point down. Retail tiddler Mothercare adds to the doom and gloom this morning with a profit warning.

Source: The Times January 08, 2018 09:00 UTC