London open: Stocks fall amid coronavirus concerns; miners slump
London stocks fell in early trade on Thursday, with miners pacing the decline amid renewed concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,537.10.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Asia has been sharply weaker overnight as fears over the coronavirus weigh on investors. Wuhan is in lock down - about time too, but coming as it does at the start of the New Year holiday, it’s a big problem for the authorities. Shanghai’s A50 slipped 3%, with the Hang Seng down 2%. Markets seemed to largely shrug this off yesterday but as I said in Monday’s note, it’ll get worse before it is sorted."
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said the trade situation between the US and EU was "complicating the atmosphere somewhat".
"The European Commission chief Urusla von der Leyen said in Davos that the pair are ‘expecting in a few weeks to have an agreement that we can sign together’. But this push for reconciliation came with a warning from Trump that if a deal isn’t reached the bloc will face ‘very high tariffs’ on cars and other products," he noted.
Investors were eyeing the European Central Bank interest rate decision at 1245 GMT, followed by the press conference at 1330 GMT.
In UK equity markets, miners - which are heavily dependent on demand from China - were the standout losers, with Antofagasta, Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP all lower.
Elsewhere, Paypoint was under the cosh as it said the improvement in pre-tax profit for the year to the end of March 2020 will be "at a more modest rate" than previously expected.
Kaz Minerals was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘hold’ at VTB Capital while Lancashire retreated after a downgrade to ‘reduce’ at HSBC.
On the upside, British American Tobacco and Renishaw rose after upgrades to ‘equalweight’ and ‘overweight’, respectively, at Morgan Stanley. Rightmove was boosted by an upgrade to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan. Shares of luxury car maker Aston Martin Lagonda rallied after an initiation at ‘buy’ at Citi.
Polymetal gained as it said fourth-quarter revenue rose 1% on the year to $643m.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,537.10 -0.46%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,695.22 -0.31%
techMARK (TASX) 4,222.00 -0.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Just Eat (JE.) 899.20p 1.42%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,430.50p 1.25%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 209.50p 0.72%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 653.40p 0.68%
Rightmove (RMV) 674.40p 0.66%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,266.00p 0.32%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,953.50p 0.31%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,136.50p 0.22%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,756.00p 0.15%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 690.00p 0.15%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
NMC Health (NMC) 1,367.50p -2.81%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 889.60p -1.92%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,901.50p -1.88%
Glencore (GLEN) 230.70p -1.87%
Evraz (EVR) 393.30p -1.82%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,523.50p -1.74%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,794.20p -1.71%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 181.75p -1.68%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,114.00p -1.67%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,160.00p -1.37%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 3,694.00p 4.41%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 449.10p 3.46%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 325.80p 1.81%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 284.50p 1.61%
Essentra (ESNT) 434.20p 1.59%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 293.40p 1.17%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 480.00p 1.14%
C&C Group (CCR) 369.50p 0.96%
BMO Global Smaller Companies (BGSC) 148.40p 0.95%
National Express Group (NEX) 477.60p 0.80%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
PayPoint (PAY) 963.00p -7.76%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 145.40p -4.53%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 494.10p -4.36%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 733.50p -3.42%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 152.30p -1.99%
Premier Oil (PMO) 111.15p -1.94%
Marshalls (MSLH) 766.00p -1.86%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 238.00p -1.86%
Fresnillo (FRES) 627.20p -1.63%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 71.80p -1.51%