London stocks were still in the red by midday on Monday as worries about Covid-19 weighed on sentiment.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.7% at 7,072.86 as investors looked ahead to the start of the US earnings season – with results due this week from the likes of Citi, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan – while the UK calendar will also pick up, with Burberry, Dunelm and Barratt Developments among those slated to report.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “Last week’s events appear to paint a narrative of some concern that the reflation trade is either in trouble, or merely being delayed, due to concern over rising Delta variant cases in Asia, which has prompted a number of countries including Japan, South Korea and Australia to reimpose tighter restrictions.
“We’re also seeing higher case counts in the UK, US and Europe, which could also add to the uncertainty, although in the case of the UK the high levels of vaccination are keeping hospitalisations and deaths low for now. Whether that stays the case remains to be seen, but the lower vaccination rate in Europe could prove problematic in the days ahead, which mean help explain this morning’s weaker European open.”
In equity markets, travel-related stocks were the worst performers, with engine maker Rolls-Royce, British Airways owner IAG, budget airlines easyJet and Wizz, travel company Tui, and Premier Inn owner Whitbread all weaker.
Miners were also under pressure as metals prices fell, with Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore trading lower.
On the upside, Admiral rallied after the insurer said it expected a higher-than-anticipated first-half profit due to an “unusually positive” development in the cost of UK motor injury claims. The firm guided for pre-tax profit of £450m to £500m and a dividend of 110p to 125p a share.
Online electricals retailer AO World was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies, which pointed to an “attractive” entry point into a “structural winner with a huge long-term growth runway” after the shares fell 44% year-to-date.
Tate & Lyle gained after agreeing to sell a controlling stake in its primary products business in North America and Latin America to private equity outfit KPS Capital Partners for $1.3bn. The deal, which effectively breaks up the food and drink ingredients maker, would also involve the sale of the company’s interests in the Almidones Mexicanos and DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio-Products Company joint ventures.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,072.86 -0.69%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,857.49 -0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 4,466.68 -0.25%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,214.00p 2.98%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,942.50p 1.75%
Experian (EXPN) 2,980.00p 1.43%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,180.50p 1.37%
Halma (HLMA) 2,813.00p 1.37%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 649.20p 1.34%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,971.00p 1.20%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 551.40p 1.17%
Avast (AVST) 500.20p 0.99%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,942.00p 0.89%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 97.04p -3.92%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 178.12p -3.64%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,041.00p -3.03%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,399.50p -2.98%
Evraz (EVR) 597.60p -2.86%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,485.50p -2.59%
Barclays (BARC) 168.88p -2.58%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 155.45p -2.54%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,916.50p -2.49%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 160.75p -2.34%
FTSE 250 – Risers
AO World (AO.) 239.20p 3.19%
Elementis (ELM) 158.20p 2.06%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 175.80p 2.03%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 253.50p 2.01%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,040.00p 1.76%
Future (FUTR) 3,148.00p 1.75%
Volution Group (FAN) 441.50p 1.73%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 4,646.00p 1.62%
Genuit Group (GEN) 640.00p 1.59%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 774.20p 1.57%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Cineworld Group (CINE) 74.00p -5.15%
Playtech (PTEC) 393.00p -4.57%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 52.04p -4.27%
easyJet (EZJ) 896.00p -4.01%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,573.00p -3.67%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 288.50p -3.51%
Capita (CPI) 35.88p -3.39%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 213.30p -3.00%
FirstGroup (FGP) 82.75p -2.76%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,629.00p -2.75%
