London midday: Markets shaken by explosions in Brussels

London stocks slumped on Tuesday after several explosions in Belgium sent travel and leisure shares tumbling.

At least 26 people were killed and others injured as suicide bombers launched twin attacks on Brussels' Zaventem airport and the city's Maelbeek metro station on Tuesday morning.

Belgian broadcaster RTBF, citing a federal prosecutor, confirmed the airport bombings were a suicide attack. The blasts come four days after the capture in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the jihadist attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015 that killed more than 130 people.

Travel and leisure stocks plunged in response to the reports including International Consolidated Airlines, InterContinental Hotels Group, TUI AG, Carnival and Thomas Cook.

“Investors will be fearful of the knock-on to European traveller sentiment which was clearly dented in the wake of the Parisian attacks last November (as well as those in Tunisia and Egypt),” said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.

In other negative news for the market, UK inflation remained depressed at low levels in February as rising food prices were offset by falling prices for second-hand cars and bicycles.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the consumer price index remained at 0.3% in February compared to the same month last year, which was shy of consensus forecasts for a slight rise to 0.4%.

Core inflation, a rate that excludes volatile prices such as for fuel and food, held at 1.2%, rather than nudging up to 1.3% as had been expected.

In its February Quarterly Inflation Report, the Bank of England forecast inflation to average 0.4% in the first quarter.

"Low inflation coupled with an anaemic outlook for the global economy, means there is little appetite from the Bank of England to raise UK rates any time soon," said Maike Currie, investment director for personal investing at Fidelity International.

Elsewhere, German investor confidence came in a weaker than expected for March, according to the latest survey from the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.

The index of investor and analyst expectations rose 3.3 points from the previous month to 4.3 points, but this was below economists’ forecast of 5.4.

Still to come, US house price data is at 1300 GMT and Markit’s US manufacturing purchasing managers’ index at 1345 GMT.

In company news, Sports Direct shares plunged after founder Mike Ashley said the company was not trading well. Ashley told The Times he was concerned that the sportswear retailer was losing momentum and said he would refuse to appear before a Commons select committee in June.

Jimmy Choo was also under the cosh despite reporting a 7.2% rise in underlying revenue in 2015 and saying strong demand in Asia would help it grow faster than the overall luxury market this year.

IG Group gained after posting an 18% rise in third-quarter revenue and saying it was entering the fourth quarter in a strong position.

Bellway advanced as it reported a 42.6% jump in pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of January.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,151.72 -0.53%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,833.98 -0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 3,077.06 -0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Shire Plc (SHP) 3,903.00p 1.59%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,535.00p 1.55%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 203.00p 1.40%
Old Mutual (OML) 195.60p 1.29%
Fresnillo (FRES) 990.50p 1.02%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,991.00p 1.01%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,625.00p 1.00%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,220.00p 0.91%
3i Group (III) 452.30p 0.89%
Tesco (TSCO) 199.10p 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 538.50p -3.49%
Capita (CPI) 1,016.00p -2.96%
Barclays (BARC) 156.05p -2.77%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 977.50p -2.54%
Carnival (CCL) 3,433.00p -2.25%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,753.00p -2.20%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 687.50p -2.14%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,077.00p -1.91%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,879.00p -1.75%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,475.00p -1.73%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Allied Minds (ALM) 444.10p 3.74%
Bellway (BWY) 2,548.00p 3.03%
Saga (SAGA) 190.70p 2.91%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 257.00p 2.80%
IP Group (IPO) 186.20p 2.76%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 152.80p 2.48%
SVG Capital (SVI) 503.00p 2.30%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 772.00p 2.18%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 91.05p 2.02%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 938.50p 2.01%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sports Direct International (SPD) 386.00p -8.92%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 86.20p -6.81%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 274.10p -3.82%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 131.40p -3.38%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 221.00p -3.07%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 326.30p -2.66%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 196.20p -2.10%
Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 567.50p -2.07%
Assura (AGR) 51.15p -2.01%
Senior (SNR) 225.70p -2.00%