Sector movers: Travel, airline stocks fall on Paris attacks

Travel, leisure and airline stocks plummeted on Monday, in wake of the Paris terrorist atrocities over the weekend, while natural resource stocks saw a mixed session in London.

The FTSE 100 ended 0.46% or 28.10 points higher at 6,146.38, while the FTSE 250 closed 0.41% or 68.75 points higher at 16,844.38, with confidence in airline and travel stocks taking a knock. Travel operator TUI (down 4.06%) and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (down 2.78%) led the blue chips lower.

Concurrently, Enterprise Inns (down 5.38%) and Thomas Cook (down 4.77%) were among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250. Meanwhile, natural resource related stocks went through a mixed session as commodities prices, initially showed signs of a recovery before turning negative late in the European session.

At 1620 GMT, the Brent front-month futures contract was down 2.88% or $1.28 at $43.19 per barrel, having risen as high as $44.50 in early trading before shedding the gains. Meanwhile, WTI was 1.20% or 49 cents lower at $40.25 per barrel, as conflicting sentiments in wake of the Paris attacks pulled both futures benchmarks in either direction.

Meanwhile, the base metal market saw a turn in fortune when a timid morning recovery from last week’s losses was reversed in late afternoon European trading. The three-month copper futures contract, dragged down to historic lows in recent sessions, was pulled lower still falling another 2.2% to $4,704.50 per metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Additionally, primary aluminium (down 1.5%), nickel (down 1.7%), tin (down 0.7%), zinc (down 2.1%) and lead (down 1.4%) LME futures were all trading lower, having initially shown signs of a recovery. Glencore (down 3.83%) found itself among the biggest FTSE 100 fallers yet again, while Nostrum Oil & Gas (down 6.37%) and Kaz Minerals (down 4.63%) were among the biggest FTSE 250 losers.

However, midcap Premier Oil (up 7.41%) led the FTSE 250 risers after it reached an agreement to sell its Norwegian business, Premier Oil Norge AS, to Det Norske for $120m (£79m), which will be used to pay down the company’s debt.

The exploration and production group said the transaction, which is subject to the receipt of government approval and is expected to complete by year-end, “represents another step in Premier's previously stated programme of portfolio management”.

Rival Tullow Oil (up 3.20%) surged after UBS upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and lifted the price target to 240p from 230p as it called a bottom to the net asset value downgrade cycle.

“This is a well-financed company with quality assets and a proven development track-record, offering long-term oil price exposure at the bottom of the cycle, yet well hedged at the front end (around 50% of 2016E production at $75/bbl),” the investment bank said.