London open: Stocks fall despite England reopening
London stocks fell in early trade on Monday even as England’s economy began to open up, with non-essential shops, pubs, hairdressers and gyms all open after months in lockdown.
At 0905 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 6,878.60.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "The spirit that drove the Dow Jones to 33,800 for the first-time last Friday was nowhere to be seen on Monday morning.
"Falling commodity stocks put an end to the FTSE’s 13-month peak. A 0.9% decline from Brent Crude, and a sharper 1.4% slide from copper, sent the index’s weighty oil and mining stocks lower, and left the FTSE itself down close to 50 points.
"By contrast - and almost certainly contributing to the FTSE’s losses - the pound rose 0.1% against the dollar and 0.3% against the euro. This as sterling tries to reset after a rough set of sessions last week.
"The lacklustre showing in the UK comes despite the second big step in the country’s re-opening efforts, and news that business optimism has hit a record high in the UK as firms anticipate a post-covid comeback."
In equity markets, miners were under the cosh, with Anglo American, BHP, Antofagasta and Glencore all weaker.
Elsewhere, shopping centre owner Hammerson lost ground after confirming it was in talks with Canadian private equity firm Brookfield on a possible sale of its retail parks. Brookfield is prepared to pay around £350m for seven retail parks, the Sunday Times reported.
AstraZeneca nudged lower after it said a trial of its Farxiga drug for treating hospitalised Covid-19 patients did not produce statistically significant results.
EasyJet flew lower after HSBC cut its stance on shares of the budget airline to ‘hold’.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,878.60 -0.54%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,157.94 -0.42%
techMARK (TASX) 4,312.85 -0.49%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Halma (HLMA) 2,575.00p 0.63%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,487.00p 0.61%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,550.50p 0.55%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,418.00p 0.50%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,565.50p 0.45%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,197.50p 0.42%
M&G (MNG) 218.80p 0.37%
Entain (ENT) 1,571.50p 0.32%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,159.00p 0.29%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,538.00p 0.28%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Pearson (PSON) 786.40p -2.41%
Evraz (EVR) 586.20p -2.17%
Rightmove (RMV) 605.00p -2.17%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,018.00p -2.11%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,110.50p -1.84%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,111.00p -1.81%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,699.00p -1.79%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 429.90p -1.71%
Glencore (GLEN) 284.10p -1.59%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 489.90p -1.53%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Rank Group (RNK) 199.80p 2.36%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 238.20p 2.10%
Mitie Group (MTO) 65.90p 1.85%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 353.60p 1.26%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 449.00p 1.13%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 768.80p 1.10%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 414.00p 1.10%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,905.00p 1.04%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 205.00p 0.99%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,604.00p 0.96%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 45.19p -3.69%
NCC Group (NCC) 278.50p -2.45%
easyJet (EZJ) 949.00p -2.45%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 10,250.00p -2.38%
FirstGroup (FGP) 92.50p -2.22%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 356.20p -2.20%
AO World (AO.) 321.20p -2.07%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 81.15p -1.99%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 200.80p -1.95%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,936.00p -1.83%