London close: Miners lose on mixed Monday for stocks

London stocks were in a mixed state at the close on Monday, with miners under the cosh after China reimposed Covid curbs.

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.005%, or just 0.35 points, at 7,196.59, while the FTSE 250 was 0.4% weaker at 18,836.98.

Sterling was in the red against its main trading pairs, last falling 1.2% on the dollar to $1.1889, and weakening 0.06% against the euro to change hands at €1.1809.

“It has been a generally gloomy day, with equities trimming their recent gains,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“Once more the dollar is on the up and fears about a recession are creeping back, so the Nasdaq 100 and growth names have found themselves at the forefront of selling.

“But while the FTSE 100’s mining contingent is still sharply down on the day the losses in London have been trimmed, thanks to a strong performance from the utilities on hopes that the rise in gas prices will bolster their bottom line, even if they take a hit from opportunistic politicians looking for headlines.”

In equity markets, miners were indeed under pressure, with Anglo American down 3.54%, Antofagasta off 4.13%, Glencore losing 1.19%, and Rio Tinto 0.49% lower.

“Worries are ratcheting up about the global downturn hitting demand for commodities,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Iron ore prices have fallen to levels not seen since December, as stockpiles of steel build up following a slump in the Chinese property sector, while companies tread water impatient for Beijing’s promised infrastructure boost to materialise.”

British Airways and Iberia parent IAG was down 5.85% amid ongoing travel chaos, with budget airlines Wizz Air and easyJet also on the back foot, by a respective 3.66% and 4.65%.

Wizz said on Monday that it was cutting its summer capacity by 5% due to staff shortages, as it reported a €285m operating loss for the first quarter.

However, the airline also said it was expecting a "material" operational profit in the second quarter as revenue and pricing momentum continue to improve.

“Despite its best efforts to aggressively grow its position in the low-cost airline market, Wizz Air’s latest trading update doesn’t paint a picture of a company flying high,” said Danni Hewson, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“While aircraft capacity is up compared with the period just before the pandemic, the percentage of bums on available seats has fallen.”

Hewson noted that Wizz Air’s ticket fares were down in the quarter, adding that there had been a “big jump” in fuel costs.

“All in all, the airline was loss-making in its first quarter, meaning the considerable effort put into making it a winner in the industry hasn’t actually generated any extra money in its pocket."

Other travel-related shares fell, with Carnival tumbling 7.13%, TUI losing 5.28%, and SSP Group 0.5% weaker.

Elsewhere, Dechra Pharmaceuticals fell 3.09% even after it said revenues had "increased strongly" during the 12 months ended 30 June, up 14% at constant currency and 12% at actual exchange rates.

In broker note action, Molten Ventures was down 5.09% after Berenberg lowered its target price on the venture capital company to 1,050p from 1,300p, but said a recent portfolio stress test proved the group's stock was "too cheap".

On the upside, Centrica added 3.42%, SSE rose 3.1%, Severn Trent advanced 2.19%, and United Utilities Group was 2.02% higher, following a report that the UK government was not planning to extend the windfall tax to electricity or infrastructure companies.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Michele Maatouk and Alexander Bueso.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,196.59 0.00%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,836.98 -0.40%
techMARK (TASX) 4,339.83 -0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Centrica (CNA) 82.82p 3.42%
SSE (SSE) 1,746.00p 3.10%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,797.00p 2.19%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,033.50p 2.02%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,797.50p 1.65%
National Grid (NG.) 1,084.50p 1.50%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,334.00p 1.41%
Relx plc (REL) 2,273.00p 1.38%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 503.00p 1.21%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 149.40p 1.15%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 104.28p -5.85%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 7,752.00p -4.56%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,067.00p -4.13%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 835.60p -3.62%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,709.50p -3.54%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,642.00p -3.09%
Abrdn (ABDN) 158.70p -3.05%
Fresnillo (FRES) 664.60p -2.81%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,719.00p -2.73%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 775.60p -2.12%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 700.00p 6.01%
Darktrace (DARK) 326.70p 3.75%
Trainline (TRN) 363.40p 2.87%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,478.00p 2.48%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 334.00p 2.45%
Energean (ENOG) 1,020.00p 2.20%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 232.20p 2.20%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 286.00p 2.14%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 127.00p 2.09%
JTC (JTC) 637.00p 2.08%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

888 Holdings (DI) (888) 144.00p -9.55%
ASOS (ASC) 932.00p -7.26%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 96.20p -7.14%
Carnival (CCL) 640.80p -7.13%
Polymetal International (POLY) 188.00p -5.73%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 129.15p -5.28%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 389.20p -5.09%
easyJet (EZJ) 358.90p -4.65%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 114.80p -4.57%
ITV (ITV) 64.88p -4.45%