Morning Markets: Home retailers drag FTSE down as economy remains subdued

The FTSE was down in early morning trading by 21.35 points (0.40%) at 5292.46, as markets remain cautious awaiting the latest UK GDP reading - due at 9:30am - and EU bank stress test results due after close of business today.

ARM Holdings topped the leaders' board, up 4.86 points (1.52%) trading at 321p on the back of their results, Thursday.

Vodafone Group PLC was up 1.65 points (1.11%) to 150p, as the mobile giant reported higher-than-expected revenue for the first quarter and announced a settlement of its outstanding tax bills with the UK tax authorities.

Anglo American Plc also performed well trading at £24.95, up 18 points (0.73%) as De Beers, which is 45% Anglo-owned, reported positive first-half earnings with sales up 84% to £2.6bn.

Elsewhere Kingfisher was down 3.7 points (1.64%) to 221p, as Europe's biggest home improvement retailer said it remains cautious on the outlook for consumer spending after reporting a fall in second-quarter same-store sales Thursday. Home retail group was also down 2.9 points (1.21%) to 237p.

The Dow Jones ended trading up 201.77 points (1.99%) to close at 10322.30, despite an 8% surge in new claims for unemployment benefits to the week ending 17 July.

Sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected measures of the U.S. housing market and eurozone economic activity, as well as strong corporate earnings.

Boeing took pole position, up 201.77 points (5.41%) to close trading at $66.06, after European rival aircraft manufacturer Airbus raised its order intake target for 2010.

American Express was also strong, up 2.04 points (4.96%) to $43.19 as its second-quarter profit nearly tripled, beating analysts' estimates, as cardmember spending jumped 16%.

Elsewhere Travellers Company Inc. topped the losers' board trading at $49.29, down 0.58 points (1.16%). Johnson & Johnson also performed poorly down 0.10 points (0.18%) to close trading at $57.02.

Japanese stocks suffered their fifth straight day of losses, as markets reacted to comments from US Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke. The Nikkei ended the day down 58 points (0.62%) at 9,221, bringing its total fall since 14 July to 5.9%.