London close: Stocks mixed as Covid fears reignite in Asia

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.52% at 6,895.29, while the FTSE 250 lost 0.1%to 22,085.73.

Sterling was slightly stronger against its major trading pairs, last rising 0.01% on the dollar to $1.3939, and advancing 0.03% against the euro to €1.1582.

“After the big declines seen yesterday, European markets have recovered some of their poise today, with the travel and leisure sector looking to find a bit of a base after recent declines, while health care stocks have outperformed, due to a positive read across from US medical devices company Intuitive Surgical, which has sent Smith and Nephew shares to two-month highs,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“Airlines were big fallers yesterday with long haul carriers getting hit the hardest, over concerns that extended shutdowns in Asia markets could mean delays to the speedy resumption of long-haul travel.

“These concerns were borne out after IATA said that they were revising up their estimates for airline industry losses for 2021 to $48bn, from $38bn, presumably on the basis of delays to the resumption of international travel.”

That, Hewson said, helped to explain why British Airways owner IAG had found gains “much harder to come by” on Wednesday, relative to the likes of easyJet.

“Rising infection rates in Asia, and India and Japan specifically, are raising concerns that any global economic recovery will face significant delays in a region where vaccination rates are well behind those of Europe and the US.

“It also raises the prospect that the Olympics may well not happen with infection rates in Tokyo and Osaka prompting concerns that authorities may have to implement a state of emergency.”

Earlier in the session, the Office for National Statistics reported said the year-on-year rate of increase in headline consumer prices in the UK accelerated from 0.4% in February to 0.7% for March, undershooting the consensus estimate of 0.8%.

Core CPI did hit the consensus projection for a rise of 1.1%, which was up from 0.9% in the month before.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicted that CPI would rise past the Bank of England's 2.0% target "only briefly", arguing that rate-setters shouldn't flinch and anticipating little pressure to raise rates before 2023.

In equity markets, BHP rose 0.53% after it said it would finish the year “strongly”, reporting record production at its Western Australia iron ore business in the first nine months.

The company left annual production guidance for iron ore and petroleum unchanged but reduced guidance for metallurgical coal and energy coal, partly due to wet weather.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals was ahead 2.82% after it resumed the launch of its generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's ‘Advair Diskus’ in the United States, following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of an amendment to its Abbreviated New Drug Application in January.

The drug maker said the amendment reflected enhanced packaging controls to meet new industry standards adopted since its initial submission, and said it would immediately resume launch activities of its generic product.

Contracts-for-difference trading platform Plus500 managed gains of 0.64% after making its first foray into the US market, buying Cunningham Commodities and Cunningham Trading Systems for $30m.

The deal, which “brings with it a scarce and valuable license” to operate US markets, will be funded from Plus500's existing cash balances, the company said, adding that some of the cash would be held in escrow for two years from completion for retention purposes.

Telecommunications and mobile money provider Airtel Africa was 2.31% firmer after it announced the signing of a new $500m (£359.35m) loan facility with a group of relationship banks.

The FTSE 250 company said the new committed facility consisted of a combination of a revolving credit facility and term loans, with tenor of up to four years.

It said the facility would be used to partially refinance its €750m (£647.14m) euro-denominated bond due 20 May.

On the downside, distribution specialist Bunzl was off 3.19% after it reported a rise in first quarter revenue driven by demand for Covid-related products, and warned of a slight slowdown in the second half as it maintained full year guidance.

The company said group revenue in the first quarter was up 5.4% at actual exchange rates, with acquisitions contributing revenue growth of 4.3%.

Bunzl expected “robust” revenue growth in 2021 after excluding larger Covid-19 related orders which contributed approximately £550m last year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,895.29 0.52%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,085.73 -0.10%
techMARK (TASX) 4,336.22 0.85%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,466.00p 3.68%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,445.00p 2.82%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,052.00p 2.34%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,499.00p 2.29%
Entain (ENT) 1,664.00p 2.27%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 899.40p 2.07%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,204.00p 1.97%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,835.00p 1.78%
BAE Systems (BA.) 527.00p 1.74%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,348.00p 1.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,424.00p -3.19%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 551.60p -2.99%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,716.00p -2.70%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 561.20p -1.85%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,912.50p -1.82%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 958.40p -1.58%
British Land Company (BLND) 502.00p -1.57%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 703.80p -1.57%
SSE (SSE) 1,461.50p -1.32%
Avast (AVST) 471.90p -1.19%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 206.00p 5.26%
Indivior (INDV) 142.10p 5.26%
Carnival (CCL) 1,599.60p 4.47%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,090.00p 3.81%
easyJet (EZJ) 966.20p 3.38%
Synthomer (SYNT) 496.40p 3.07%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 124.00p 2.99%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 150.30p 2.73%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 351.00p 2.63%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 73.15p 2.45%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 466.20p -3.84%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 171.40p -3.27%
OSB Group (OSB) 453.80p -3.12%
IWG (IWG) 350.80p -3.09%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,716.00p -2.70%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 263.80p -2.66%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 681.50p -2.64%
Grainger (GRI) 274.20p -2.63%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 621.50p -2.59%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 231.50p -2.53%