London close: Stocks fall amid second-wave virus concerns
London stocks finished well into the red on Thursday, as markets were gripped by worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections and a global recession.
The FTSE 100 ended the session down 2.75% at 5,741.54 and the FTSE 250 was off 2.98% at 15,404.59.
Sterling was weaker against both of its major trading pairs, losing 0.38% on the dollar to $1.2186, and falling 0.1% against the euro to €1.1293.
“A warning from the top of the US central bank that there’s more pain to come isn’t going down well across markets,” said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler.
“Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned yesterday that more stimulus will likely be needed in the US to fend off the economic damage done by the virus and policies aimed at containing it.”
Lawler said Powell’s warning came on top of early signs of a second wave of new virus cases, spooking markets further.
“Investors will be watching with interest the ability of authorities in South Korea to ‘track and trace’ attendees of nightclubs that started a new cluster of cases.
“Likewise, Germany’s infection R-rate, that fell below back below 1.0 yesterday.”
In equity markets, housebuilders were under pressure after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said house prices could take a year to get back to pre-coronavirus levels.
Barratt Developments was down 2.9%, Persimmon lost 4.74% and Taylor Wimpey was 2.8% weaker.
Persimmon’s losses came even after it said it would reopen sales offices in England on Friday, as the UK government eased coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Prudential ended the day well below the waterline, falling 6.05% after it posted a 24% decline in first-quarter Asia sales.
Stagecoach plunged 13.41% after a downgrade to ‘sell’ from ‘buy’ at Citi, which cut price targets across the peer group as it pointed to an expected shift in consumer preference away from public transport.
Its peers were also sharply lower, with National Express down 9.17%, Go-Ahead off 7.15% and FirstGroup falling 13.55%.
Housebuilder and regeneration partner Countryside Properties lost 17.33% after it reported a fall in half-year profit and revenue as it pointed to completions and land sales in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hargreaves Lansdown reversed earlier gains to end the session down 1.38% , even after saying it was sticking with its dividend policy, as the investment platform reported £4bn of net new business for the four months to the end of April.
On the upside, private equity giant 3i rose 6.3% after it reported a full year total return of £253m, down from £1.25bn as net asset value fell to a better-than-expected 804p a share from 815p.
The company also committed to an annual dividend of 35p a share.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,741.54 -2.75%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,404.59 -2.98%
techMARK (TASX) 3,528.81 -2.95%
FTSE 100 - Risers
3i Group (III) 797.00p 6.30%
Informa (INF) 420.00p 2.59%
Meggitt (MGGT) 237.90p 2.59%
ITV (ITV) 69.90p 2.01%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 10,050.00p 1.47%
WPP (WPP) 558.20p 1.45%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,355.20p 0.82%
BT Group (BT.A) 102.15p 0.74%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,757.00p 0.71%
Centrica (CNA) 35.31p 0.48%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Sage Group (SGE) 618.40p -7.23%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,661.00p -7.18%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,956.00p -6.86%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 8,836.00p -6.66%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,416.00p -6.26%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,272.00p -5.85%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,641.80p -5.76%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,915.00p -5.66%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 875.20p -5.55%
Prudential (PRU) 1,032.50p -5.32%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Marston's (MARS) 32.00p 6.67%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 69.40p 5.06%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 56.96p 4.09%
Senior (SNR) 52.45p 2.84%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 89.32p 2.76%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 859.00p 2.55%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 225.80p 2.54%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 68.00p 2.26%
Weir Group (WEIR) 885.20p 2.08%
SSP Group (SSPG) 224.40p 2.00%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Countryside Properties (CSP) 305.40p -17.33%
Greencore Group (GNC) 144.10p -14.33%
FirstGroup (FGP) 46.90p -13.55%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 50.50p -13.41%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 771.00p -12.70%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,015.00p -9.68%
National Express Group (NEX) 182.20p -9.17%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 344.00p -7.68%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 50.80p -7.64%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 1,190.00p -7.50%