London close: FTSE finishes weaker ahead of England's 'freedom day'

The FTSE 100 ended the session down 0.06% at 7,008.09, and the FTSE 250 was off 0.15% at 22,467.00.

Sterling was in the red as well, last trading 0.36% weaker against the dollar at $1.3779, and sliding 0.35% on the euro to €1.1666.

“European stocks have undergone another week of choppiness without actually going anywhere, finishing the week on the back foot in the process,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.

“Today’s price action has seen the FTSE 100 drop below 7,000 this afternoon, predominantly as a result of weakness in the basic resources sector and weaker metals prices, with Glencore, Rio Tinto and Anglo American all falling back.

“The sector wasn’t helped by a disappointing production report from Rio Tinto, which suggested the miner would struggle to hit its iron ore guidance after a tough quarter, hampered by labour shortages and bad weather.”

Hewson noted that it had not been a great week for the travel and leisure sector either, as investor’s looked to next week’s ‘economic reopening’, with big falls in airline stocks, hospitality and pubs across the five sessions.

“The new vague rules, or guidance around mask wearing, and rising infection rates mean that next week’s reopening isn’t likely to change that much in terms of day-to-day living, except by shifting the burden of responsibility from government deciding how and where to work with the virus, and on to the private sector, and the private individual,” Hewson added.

“Today we are seeing a bit of an end of week pullback in the weakest sectors, with a bit of a rebound in hospitality, notably Premier Inn owner Whitbread, and Holiday Inn owner Intercontinental Hotels amongst the best performers.”

In equity markets, travel and leisure stocks were indeed in the green, recovering from Covid-related losses earlier in the week.

InterContinental Hotels was up 1.66%, British Airways parent IAG rose 1.46%, Premier Inn owner Whitbread advanced 1.74%, and engine maker Rolls-Royce was 2.11% firmer.

Cineworld, TUI, JD Wetherspoon and Wizz Air also pushed up, by 9.8%, 2.89%, 1.13% and 0.23%, respectively.

The sector was also lifted by news that US President Joe Biden may lift travel restrictions with Europe.

Whitbread was given the extra boost of an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘add’ at Peel Hunt, which said the shares have been oversold on reopening fears.

Sales, marketing and support services group DCC was on the front foot, rising 2.38% after saying it traded "very well" in the first quarter, with operating profit growth well ahead of the prior year and modestly ahead of expectations.

Home repairs and improvements business HomeServe gained 3.15% after it backed its full-year guidance ahead of its annual meeting.

On the downside, luxury goods maker Burberry slumped 5.02% even after it reported a sharp rise in first-quarter sales and maintained full-year guidance as younger customers were attracted to the brand.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that Gobbetti’s exit was still causing concern.

"A big obstacle waiting to trip up the company on this catwalk of recovery is the departure of CEO Marco Gobbetti,” she said.

“He has been seen as the turnaround czar for Burberry, and investors are questioning the company’s ability to keep driving through the strategic turnaround without him in the front row.”

Streeter said finding the right replacement to fit his shoes would not be an easy task.

“Investors [are] still uncertain about the direction of the company in the age after Gobbetti.’”

Rio Tinto was also in the red by 3.44%, after it posted a 12% fall in quarterly iron ore shipments as storms and labour shortages hit its Pilbara operations in Western Australia.

Other miners followed suit, with Antofagasta down 1.66%, Anglo American off 2.83%, and Glencore losing 3.45%.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,008.09 -0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,467.00 -0.15%
techMARK (TASX) 4,369.73 0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Avast (AVST) 610.40p 2.48%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 519.20p 2.41%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,490.00p 2.27%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,022.00p 2.24%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 92.97p 2.01%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,848.00p 1.97%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,711.00p 1.84%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,924.00p 1.74%
National Grid (NG.) 943.00p 1.64%
Next (NXT) 7,522.00p 1.62%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,970.00p -4.83%
Glencore (GLEN) 309.00p -3.45%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,931.00p -3.44%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,889.00p -2.83%
Fresnillo (FRES) 795.80p -2.62%
Evraz (EVR) 594.00p -2.40%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 200.10p -2.20%
Barclays (BARC) 165.42p -2.19%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 14,135.00p -2.11%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,819.50p -2.05%

FTSE 250 - Risers

GCP Student Living (DIGS) 215.50p 12.24%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 63.08p 10.05%
Homeserve (HSV) 966.00p 3.21%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 321.60p 3.11%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 365.30p 2.90%
Ninety One (N91) 235.20p 2.44%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,242.00p 2.39%
AJ Bell (AJB) 418.60p 2.15%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 728.80p 2.07%
Biffa (BIFF) 327.50p 2.02%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Clarkson (CKN) 3,080.00p -5.23%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 433.20p -3.69%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 4,940.00p -3.52%
FirstGroup (FGP) 77.55p -3.24%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 139.50p -3.06%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 366.20p -2.92%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 352.50p -2.89%
888 Holdings (888) 367.00p -2.81%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 184.00p -2.75%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 214.50p -2.50%