London close: FTSE manages to close higher after turbulent session
London’s benchmark had broken back into the green by the close on Monday, although housebuilders remained under following the latest Rightmove house price data, while there was some optimism in the air around the loosening of coronavirus restrictions in certain European countries.
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.45% at 5,812.83, while the FTSE 250 slipped 0.23% to 15,822.73.
Sterling was weaker against both of its major trading pairs, last losing 0.3% against the dollar to $1.2462, and sliding 0.32% against the euro to €1.1459.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell pointed to uncertainties about the week’s impending data, falling oil prices and "Donald Trump’s dangerous handling of the Covid-19 pandemic".
"It is likely going to be a week of rough data, arguably starting with the ZEW economic sentiment readings and the UK’s first coronavirus-relevant jobless claims number on Tuesday, eurozone consumer confidence on Wednesday, and, most importantly, a wave of flash manufacturing and services PMIs on Thursday, alongside the usual shock of the US unemployment claims figures," he said.
Also likely to be weighing on sentiment were reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reluctant to lift lockdown measures too soon for fear of a second wave.
Oil prices were in focus as futures plunged to a low not seen since the last century as concerns mounted that storage facilities could be overwhelmed due to plunging demand from the Covid-19 crisis.
West Texas Intermediate was last down 74.34% at $10.42 per barrel, while Brent crude was 5.92% weaker at $26.50.
The heavy fall suggested producers may need to reduce output still further.
OPEC and other large producers agreed on 12 April to cuts that would reduce global supply by about 10% but some analysts expect demand to fall by far more than that.
In equity markets, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was down 4.69%, Barratt Developments lost 5.06% and Persimmon was off 2.15%, after Rightmove said in its latest survey that the coronavirus lockdown meant statistics on the number of properties coming to market, new seller asking prices, and new sales agreed were "not meaningful".
Rightmove said the average asking price of the "daily dwindling number of properties coming to market" in the period from 8 March to 11 April slipped 0.2% to £311,950, with the annual rate of increase from last April being 2.1%.
It added that new sales were now "almost impossible".
"You do not have a functioning market when buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell, and so the focus needs to be on what is required to help the market recover once the lockdown can safely be eased," it said.
Elsewhere, shares of online trading platform Plus500 slid 2.33% after it said Asaf Elimelech has decided to step down from his role as chief executive officer.
On the upside, Rank Group was 0.6% higher even after the casino operator said it would not pay its next dividend and that about 7,000 of its UK workers have been furloughed under the government's Covid-19 job retention programme.
Centrica reversed earlier losses to rise 0.97% even after a downgrade to ‘reduce’ at HSBC.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,812.83 0.45%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,822.73 -0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 3,533.17 0.72%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Unilever (ULVR) 4,303.00p 4.57%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 455.00p 4.50%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,838.50p 4.05%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,500.00p 4.03%
Next (NXT) 4,558.00p 3.38%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 993.50p 3.27%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 452.70p 3.19%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,577.50p 2.37%
Relx plc (REL) 1,882.50p 2.37%
Experian (EXPN) 2,425.00p 1.98%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Meggitt (MGGT) 259.90p -5.73%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 461.10p -5.06%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 129.95p -4.69%
easyJet (EZJ) 612.20p -4.16%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 225.70p -3.30%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 195.50p -2.88%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,150.50p -2.70%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 349.60p -2.56%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,962.00p -2.47%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,955.00p -2.15%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Provident Financial (PFG) 176.40p 10.25%
Contour Global (GLO) 155.40p 7.44%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 24.15p 7.10%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 393.30p 6.93%
Just Group (JUST) 57.45p 6.88%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 334.00p 4.90%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 138.40p 4.89%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 220.00p 4.27%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 184.00p 4.07%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 126.20p 4.04%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 37.15p -9.83%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 174.20p -8.65%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 534.00p -6.97%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 790.80p -6.19%
Redrow (RDW) 384.40p -5.92%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 177.20p -5.44%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 209.80p -5.15%
IWG (IWG) 204.40p -5.11%
Bellway (BWY) 2,317.00p -4.96%
Hammerson (HMSO) 68.32p -4.74%