London open: Stocks fall amid Covid worries; Admiral bucks trend

London stocks fell in early trade on Monday despite a solid session in Asia, as worries about Covid-19 weighed on sentiment.

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."

At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,088.73, 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.

In equity markets, travel-related stocks were the worst performers, with engine maker Rolls-Royce, British Airways owner IAG, budget airlines easyJet and Wizz and travel company Tui 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.

Tate & Lyle also 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) 7,088.73 -0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,889.13 -0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 4,469.68 -0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,197.00p 2.44%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,938.00p 1.52%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 551.00p 1.10%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,173.00p 0.73%
Halma (HLMA) 2,792.00p 0.61%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,948.00p 0.61%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 510.20p 0.59%
SSE (SSE) 1,537.50p 0.56%
Avast (AVST) 498.00p 0.55%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 644.00p 0.53%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 97.17p -3.79%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 180.54p -2.33%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,931.00p -2.01%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,414.50p -1.94%
Evraz (EVR) 604.00p -1.82%
Barclays (BARC) 170.42p -1.70%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,562.50p -1.45%
Glencore (GLEN) 314.80p -1.44%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,447.40p -1.43%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,154.00p -1.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Network International Holdings (NETW) 375.00p 2.49%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,274.00p 2.41%
IP Group (IPO) 119.60p 2.40%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 5,600.00p 2.38%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 780.20p 2.36%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 249.00p 1.63%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 340.00p 1.61%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 987.00p 1.54%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 646.00p 1.41%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 118.00p 1.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 52.80p -2.87%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 214.40p -2.50%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,632.00p -2.42%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 691.00p -2.40%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 348.50p -2.38%
easyJet (EZJ) 912.60p -2.23%
Meggitt (MGGT) 435.20p -2.11%
Playtech (PTEC) 403.80p -1.94%
Investec (INVP) 285.30p -1.89%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,887.00p -1.77%