London open: FTSE tumbles amid global selloff

London stocks tumbled in early trade on Monday amid a global market selloff, after Japan’s Nikkei fell more than 12%, suffering its worst session since Black Monday in 1987.

At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 2.1% at 8,006.28, amid speculation of a potential emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Sentiment took a knock on Friday after the non-farm payrolls report for July came in much weaker than expected, fuelling concerns the Fed may have made a mistake by not cutting rates last week.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The non-farm payrolls report showed that just 114,000 jobs had been added in July, against estimates of 185,000 and sharply lower than the 179,000 figure for June, which itself was revised down from an initial print of 206,000. At the same time the unemployment rate, which had been expected to remain stable at 4.1%, increased to 4.3%. The reading followed weak jobless claims and manufacturing data from the previous day which had taken investors by surprise.

"The main concern now is whether the Federal Reserve’s reluctance to reduce interest rates thus far is now translating into a policy error which will see the economy glide into recession. At the same time, speculation is now rife that a 0.5% rate cut is now firmly on the cards, with the vague possibility that it could come by way of an emergency announcement prior to the September meeting."

In equity markets, Wood Group tanked after Dubai-based engineering and consultancy firm Sidara said it won’t be making a firm takeover offer for the company due to "geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty".

Wood Group said at the end of May that it was evaluating a fourth and final "unsolicited, preliminary and conditional" takeover proposal from Sidara at 230p a share.

Sidara originally had until 5 June to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away, but the ‘put up or shut up’ deadline was pushed back to 9 August.

Shipping services firm Clarksons was also sharply lower as it reiterated its expectations for the full year but posted a drop in interim profit and revenue.

Scottish Mortgage and Pershing Square, which are particularly exposed to the US, were both under the cosh.

Lloyds was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'neutral' at Citi.

On the upside, defensive stocks managed some gains, with GSK, Haleon, Diageo, Reckitt and Unilever in the black.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,006.28 -2.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,191.73 -3.05%
techMARK (TASX) 4,690.55 -1.96%

FTSE 100 - Risers

GSK (GSK) 1,581.50p 1.22%
Haleon (HLN) 371.90p 1.11%
Diageo (DGE) 2,388.00p 0.34%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,163.00p 0.31%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,858.00p 0.25%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,366.00p 0.21%
Darktrace (DARK) 594.20p 0.07%
RELX FINANCE BV 3.375% GTD NTS 20/03/33 (BW73) 99.72p 0.00%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 451.40p -0.66%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,873.00p -0.74%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 751.20p -7.62%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,324.00p -7.36%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 455.30p -5.66%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,883.00p -4.90%
Barclays (BARC) 199.52p -4.58%
Entain (ENT) 515.40p -4.48%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,931.00p -4.48%
Prudential (PRU) 617.80p -4.28%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 160.40p -4.21%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,014.50p -4.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Jlen Environmental Assets Group Limited NPV (JLEN) 95.00p 0.64%
NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,672.00p 0.00%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 468.00p 0.00%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 86.80p 0.00%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 283.00p 0.00%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 218.50p 0.00%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 5,710.00p 0.00%
Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 537.00p 0.00%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 101.00p 0.00%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 908.00p 0.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 121.10p -38.53%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,750.00p -14.19%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 320.00p -8.05%
Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 644.00p -7.74%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 478.00p -7.54%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 2,715.00p -7.02%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 255.00p -6.25%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 292.00p -6.11%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 186.00p -5.78%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 290.00p -5.38%