Morning Markets: Retail giants dive as Q4 sales slump

The FTSE 100 has expectedly opened in the red this morning as diving sales at Argos and Homebase own...

The FTSE 100 has expectedly opened in the red this morning as diving sales at Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail adds further gloom for the retail sector. At 8:20am, London's blue-chip index was 20.36 points lower, or 0.49%, to 4,160.28. Home Retail has slumped over 9% to 187.30 after like-for-like sales at its Argos and Homebase brands fell 7.5% and 10.2% respectively in the 18 weeks to January. Adding to the negativity, FTSE 250 constituent DSG International, which owns Currys and PC World, reported like-for-like sales dropped 10% in the three months to 10 January. The mining s...