LONDON, Jan 5 — British shares gained today, led by a jump in retail stocks following record grocery sales in December, overshadowing risks arising from a fresh national lockdown imposed to curb the spread of a new Covid-19 variant.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus was spreading at great speed and immediate action was needed to slow it down.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.4 per cent, with general retailers and energy stocks gaining between two per cent and three per cent.

December was the busiest month ever for British supermarkets as tightening Covid-19 restrictions and the closure of restaurants, bars and cafés meant shoppers spent £11.7 billion (RM64 billion) on groceries, industry data showed.

UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to offer further help to businesses struggling under the renewed Covid-19 restrictions also aided sentiment.

The mid-cap index was up 0.1 per cent.

Morrisons, Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket group, gained 0.2 per cent after reporting a rise in underlying sales in its latest trading period encompassing Christmas. — Reuters