London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.1% at 7,193.60 in afternoon trade on Monday amid growing worries about Omicron and more Covid curbs.
Events business Informa was the worst performer on the index, no doubt amid concerns about the impact of further restrictions.
Rolls-Royce was down as it said that Qatar has agreed to invest £85m in its nuclear reactor business in return for a 10% stake The investment is being made by the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
BA and Iberia owner IAG flew lower amid concerns about the spread of Omicron and further restrictions in Europe and the UK. The weakness also came as as Germany became the latest European country to tighten restrictions on travellers from Britain.
Bucking the trend, Royal Mail was among the risers. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said it will “no doubt benefit as consumers rush to place last-minute online orders for Christmas presents, avoiding the high street for fear of getting Covid”.
Software firm Sage rose after it agreed to acquire Brightpearl, a cloud native multichannel retail management system for retailers and wholesalers, for £225m. Sage already has a 17% stake in the business.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 553.60p 3.48%
Royal Mail (RMG) 503.40p 1.43%
Sage Group (SGE) 821.60p 1.01%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 273.30p 0.77%
Croda International (CRDA) 9,984.00p 0.62%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,777.50p 0.54%
Tesco (TSCO) 285.85p 0.51%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 5,030.00p 0.50%
SSE (SSE) 1,615.50p 0.40%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,542.00p 0.34%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Informa (INF) 474.00p -5.58%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,311.00p -4.27%
Prudential (PRU) 1,225.00p -3.92%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 109.98p -3.78%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 10,800.00p -3.53%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 127.50p -3.44%
Abrdn (ABDN) 228.90p -3.38%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,669.00p -3.08%
BP (BP.) 323.65p -3.03%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 110.88p -2.96%
