London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,079.43 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.
Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s was the worst performer on the index. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said it could be down to nervousness about trips to bricks and mortar supermarkets amid worries about the new Covid variant.
Going the other way, Polymetal was the standout gainer as gold prices rose.
Miners Anglo American, Glencore and BHP gained as copper prices advanced. Glencore was also in focus following reports that activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners has called on the company to spin off its thermal coal business as part of a strategic and governance overhaul.
According to the Financial Times, the hedge fund wrote to the miner and commodities trader earlier in November urging it to “chart a new future” without coal. Glencore’s plan to spend 30 years before closing its coal mines is “morally unacceptable and financially flawed”, the letter reportedly said.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,392.50p 3.80%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,778.00p 3.52%
Evraz (EVR) 584.60p 2.20%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 125.14p 2.16%
Aviva (AV.) 385.50p 1.93%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 213.10p 1.28%
Glencore (GLEN) 361.30p 1.16%
Royal Mail (RMG) 506.00p 1.16%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,040.00p 1.04%
Barclays (BARC) 184.96p 0.92%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 280.00p -3.35%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,300.00p -3.28%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 6,672.00p -2.88%
Pearson (PSON) 597.20p -2.83%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 358.20p -2.58%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 732.20p -2.50%
British Land Company (BLND) 509.00p -2.38%
Entain (ENT) 1,706.00p -2.29%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,497.00p -2.24%
Schroders (SDR) 3,439.00p -2.22%
