London open: Stocks fall on Covid worries; PMIs eyed

London stocks fell in early trade on Tuesday amid concerns about rising Covid cases and tightening restrictions in Europe, as investors eyed the latest readings on the UK services and manufacturing sectors.

At 0855 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,213.31.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Civil unrest, renewed Covid restrictions and rubber bullets aren’t the look European leaders had envisaged when they slowly started to ease restrictions only a few months ago.

"The real fear now is that the tighter restrictions being implemented now will eventually morph into harsher measures the closer to Christmas we get, with all the attendant risks such measures could bring to populations jaded by multiple lockdowns."

On the macroeconomic front, Markit’s services and manufacturing PMIs for November are due at 0930 GMT.

In equity markets, online electrical retailer AO World tumbled as it warned that supply chain issues and higher costs would hit full-year earnings and revenue.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The company is currently in a parlous position. The well-publicised supply chain disruptions have had a severe impact, with a shortage of delivery drivers a particular issue.

"At the same time, the group’s foray into the German market is not only in the early stages of establishing the brand, but is also being faced by significantly increased competition."

Bodycote was also weaker as the heat treatment specialist cautioned that full-year revenues would be lower due to supply chain bottlenecks in the automotive industry.

On the upside, building materials group CRH was among the top gainers after saying it was on track to deliver "another record performance" for the full year.

Telecom Plus was on the rise after it reported a drop in half-year profit but a 6% jump in revenue thanks in part to a colder spring relative to the prior year.

Pets at Home rallied after it backed its full-year profit guidance as it posted a jump in interim profit and revenue, highlighting a rise in pet ownership.

Food producer Cranswick was also in the black as it said first-half profit and revenue rose and maintained its outlook for the full year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,213.31 -0.58%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,192.05 -1.01%
techMARK (TASX) 4,490.89 -1.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BHP Group (BHP) 1,997.00p 2.79%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,642.50p 2.27%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 149.96p 1.23%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,627.50p 1.06%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,694.00p 1.01%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,895.50p 0.97%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 136.86p 0.77%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 158.05p 0.77%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 690.60p 0.76%
National Grid (NG.) 990.80p 0.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 15,870.00p -3.50%
Halma (HLMA) 3,031.00p -3.32%
Croda International (CRDA) 9,672.00p -2.72%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 6,146.00p -2.66%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,180.00p -2.46%
Ferguson (FERG) 11,835.00p -2.35%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 11,115.00p -2.29%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,211.00p -2.21%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,377.00p -2.17%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,776.00p -2.15%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,342.00p 3.55%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 469.00p 2.36%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 320.80p 1.84%
Cranswick (CWK) 3,694.00p 1.71%
Trainline (TRN) 291.80p 1.32%
IWG (IWG) 293.70p 1.28%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,581.00p 1.09%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 287.20p 0.98%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 207.60p 0.97%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,524.00p 0.59%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AO World (AO.) 94.95p -23.43%
Diploma (DPLM) 3,300.00p -4.62%
Reach (RCH) 290.00p -3.97%
Indivior (INDV) 232.60p -3.88%
Hammerson (HMSO) 31.24p -3.61%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 357.50p -3.38%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 5,115.00p -3.31%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,555.50p -3.02%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 904.00p -3.00%
SSP Group (SSPG) 244.30p -2.75%