By Devik Jain
(Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 dived along with European and Asian stock markets on Friday as shares in oil majors BP and Shell fell and data laid bare the scale of the collapse in UK retail sales in March.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (FTSE) fell 1.4%, also hit by declines in bank stocks as doubts over one possible coronavirus treatment clouded the global mood, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 index (FTMC) lost 0.8%.
Stimulus from a raft of central banks and governments, and signs of some lockdowns being eased, has helped the FTSE recover from mid-March lows, but it still stands below 25% from its January peak and data this week has been bleak.
UK retail sales fell by the most on record in March, while consumer confidence held at its lowest since 2009 as thousands of businesses and the vast majority of shops were closed.
"The feeling is we've had a bear market rally," said Keith Temperton, a sales trader at Tavira Securities.
"We're cautious into next week. We have fairly important things coming out on the economic front (and) ... I imagine that the market will struggle to absorb the bad data."
Steep declines in Brent (LCoc1) and a historic plunge in U.S. crude oil futures have rattled stock markets this week and BP Plc (L:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) were both down more than 3%.
A report that Gilead Sciences Inc 's (O:GILD) experimental drug remdesivir failed to help patients with severe COVID-19 in a Chinese trial further undermined sentiment, although the drugmaker said the findings were inconclusive because the study was terminated early.
Major European banks report next week with latest Refinitiv forecasts showing companies listed on the pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) are set to record a 37% decline in earnings in the second quarter.
Luxury brand Burberry (L:BRBY) fell 2.8% after saying it would not rely on government support for jobs in UK and would continue to pay its employees who are unable to fulfil their roles because of store or site closures during the coronavirus crisis.
Education group Pearson (L:PSON) fell 3.1% after it posted a 5% fall in its quarterly revenue and warned of a bigger hit if social distancing measures are prolonged globally.