Plan B measures hit retailers by more than expected in December as official figures showed sales volumes slumped 3.7%. Clothing retailers and department stores were among the worst affected, with the week’s headline number from the Office for National Statistics much worse than the 0.6% decline forecast. City traders, meanwhile, face a difficult time after sentiment was hit by a late sell-off on Wall Street and Netflix shares fell more than 20% in after-hours trading due to disappointing subscriber numbers. The streaming giant’s shares slid 20% after Wall Street’s closing bell, having revealed it expects to add 2.5 million new paying subscribers in the current quarter compared with four million last year. Tech and high growth stocks on both sides of the Atlantic are vulnerable to US rate hike expectations as their present values are built around future cash flows. The Nasdaq is at a three-month low and the S&P 500 more than 6% lower so far this year amid other disappointing earnings updates. The UK stock market has been much more resilient and continues to be in positive territory for 2022, but the margin is narrowing after the FTSE 100 index fell 57.23 points to 7527.78. Fears that Russia could be about to invade Ukraine added to London’s risk averse mood, with commodity stocks including Anglo-American down 2%. Oil prices on Tuesday climbed to their highest since 2014 as investors worried about global political tensions involving major producers such as the United Arab Emirates and Russia that could exacerbate the already tight supply outlook. BP shares retreated 5p to 384.15p after higher-than-expected crude inventories sent the Brent price down 2% towards $86 a barrel.

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