London close: FTSE 100 suffers worst day in 33 years
London’s benchmark suffered its biggest one-day loss since 1987 on Thursday, after an exceedingly red day in equities, as concerns around the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic reached boiling point.
The FTSE 100 ended the day down 10.87% at 5,237.48, and the FTSE 250 was 9.35% lower at 15,717.42.
Sterling, meanwhile, was weaker against both of its main trading pairs, falling 1.68% against the dollar to $1.2605 and losing 0.69% on the euro to €1.1299.
The losses on the Footsie mounted throughout the session, after Trump said in the wee hours that the US would temporarily suspend most travel from the European Union as it looks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Those restrictions, which kick in on Friday, will last 30 days and will apply to most foreign nationals who have been in the 26 countries of the Schengen area in the 14 days before their arrival in the US.
They would not apply to US citizens or to travellers from the UK, however.
In the UK, Westminster was understood to be planning to escalate its response to the virus after a meeting of the COBRA emergency committee.
Another two people were confirmed to have died during the afternoon, taking the total number of deaths to 10.
It is understood the wider-ranging measures could include school closures, the cancellation of major sporting events and urging those who can to work from home.
“The latest pronouncement from the US has exacerbated the sour mood, with a travel ban from Europe dealing another blow to the beleaguered tourism and travel sector,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
“At the same time, the lack of any specific positive measures in the update has given markets an additional and unwelcome hit to factor in to share prices.”
Hunter said notable by its absence at the moment was “any good news”.
“The coronavirus has yet to peak, the oil price is under renewed pressure - although this may prove positive for consumers in the medium term - and only a fraction of the eventual economic cost has been confirmed, even though a growing number of companies are valiantly trying to put a figure on the hit to their earnings.
“Meanwhile, there is nowhere to hide, with even the traditional haven of gold in negative territory today.”
Hunter added that sellers were pushing against an open door, with the situation likely to get worse before it gets better.
In equity markets, so widespread were the losses that even the risers were fallers.
Travel and leisure shares suffered the brunt of the selling, with cruise operator Carnival down 17.71%, travel company TUI falling 17.14%, and Premier Inn owner Whitbread 15.66% weaker.
InterContinental Hotels slumped 11.64%, while airlines also flew lower, with easyJet down 13.6% and and IAG down 15.82%.
WH Smith took a 21.05% beating as it warned that the coronavirus outbreak would reduce annual profit by up to £40m as the outbreak took its toll on the company's airport outlets.
Cineworld tanked by 24.21% as it said it may not be able to pay its debt due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Finablr was pummelled by 79.95%, after the Travelex owner said it was reviewing its liquidity and cash flow urgently under pressure from the NMC Health scandal and the coronavirus outbreak.
The payments and foreign exchange platform also said it would commission an independent investigation into its finances.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX)5,237.48-10.87%
FTSE 250 (MCX)15,717.42-9.35%
techMARK (TASX)3,162.14-9.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO)1,077.00p-0.69%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX)7,775.00p-3.36%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)1,737.00p-5.00%
Pearson (PSON)511.20p-5.19%
Unilever (ULVR)3,859.00p-5.27%
Halma (HLMA)1,811.00p-5.36%
Bunzl (BNZL)1,666.50p-5.47%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO)434.60p-6.03%
Croda International (CRDA)4,074.00p-6.04%
BAE Systems (BA.)503.40p-6.60%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Anglo American (AAL)1,234.40p-18.85%
Evraz (EVR)203.40p-17.75%
Centrica (CNA)43.55p-17.74%
Carnival (CCL)1,289.00p-17.71%
Glencore (GLEN)127.12p-17.20%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI)385.20p-17.14%
Prudential (PRU)884.80p-16.69%
BHP Group (BHP)939.80p-16.48%
Melrose Industries (MRO)141.15p-16.16%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB)1,100.00p-16.12%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Equiniti Group (EQN)172.00p2.99%
BBGI SICAV S.A. (DI) (BBGI)157.00p0.32%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC)687.00p0.00%
Sirius Minerals (SXX)5.49p-0.09%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN)7,950.00p-0.25%
Hilton Food Group (HFG)998.00p-0.40%
Vivo Energy (VVO)93.40p-0.64%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME)299.10p-0.66%
Helios Towers (HTWS)97.50p-0.71%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL)112.00p-1.32%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Finablr (FIN)4.50p-79.95%
Premier Oil (PMO)13.01p-43.36%
Restaurant Group (RTN)55.60p-31.65%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG)1,152.00p-31.51%
Tullow Oil (TLW)12.45p-31.26%
Cineworld Group (CINE)67.00p-24.21%
William Hill (WMH)92.48p-24.17%
Airtel Africa (AAF)38.68p-22.64%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH)1,040.00p-22.39%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ)269.10p-20.69%