THE FTSE 100 Index edged back into positive territory yesterday despite weakerthan- expected official sales figures putting pressure on retailers.

Next, Argos owner Home Retail Group and B&Q firm Kingfisher all lost ground after a surprise 0.6 per cent sales volume decline for May.

The wider FTSE 100 languished in the red, but a strong start on Wall Street helped it rally back after upbeat economic news.

The top flight eventually finished 2.4 points ahead, at 4280.9.

There are fears in the City that May’s figures mark the start of a prolonged slump in high street spending, given the rise in jobless numbers and continued high levels of personal debt.

The mining sector endured another difficult session with Rio Tinto down 105p, at 2049p, and Kazakhmys off 8p, at 620.5p.

Randgold Resources was off 67p, to 3929p.

Lloyds Banking Group gained 2.2p, to 69.3p, to climb the risers’ board after an upgrade from Macquarie. Royal Bank of Scotland also added 1p, to 38p, despite the broker cutting its rating on the same bank. The improvement came as RBS said it had come to an agreement with former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin about a voluntary cut to his pension pot reducing it to £342,500 a year.

Sainsbury’s recovered ground after heavy falls yesterday following its surprise fundraising, cheering 4p, to 317p, after a Merrill Lynch upgrade. Rival Morrisons was up 3.5p, to 244p.

Cadbury shares were up 3p, to 525p, after it said it remained on course to meet revenues targets, helped by strong trading in the UK.

But elsewhere, pubs group Marston’s was down 16 per cent after it asked shareholders for £176m to fund the acquisition of new pubs. Shares were off 22.25p, at 118p.