London close: Stocks mixed as Javid confirms 19 July reopening

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.05% at 7,125.42, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.06% at 22,895.86.

Sterling was struggling for direction as well, last trading 0.14% weaker against the dollar at $1.3881, while strengthening 0.04% on the euro to change hands at €1.1706.

“A slow start to the week has seen European and US markets enjoy marginal gains in a bid to follow Friday’s impressive surge for stocks,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“The rebound in yields since Friday has dented confidence for growth names, with the Nasdaq trading in the red today as a continuation of Friday’s pop in yields.”

Mahony noted that UK travel names were hit hard despite the confirmation that England would continue with its 19 July plans to “fully unlock” the economy.

“Airlines are likely to continue on a relatively bumpy path as the UK shows its willingness to allow Covid-19 levels to surge as a result of the reopening efforts.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed to the House of Commons that the easing of the remaining Covid-19 restrictions in England would go ahead on 19 July.

It means people will no longer be legally required to wear masks indoors or keep at least one metre from others in public, and restrictions on venue capacities and social gathering numbers will also end.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a media briefing after markets closed that the use of masks would still be “encouraged” in public places, and that the government could not rule any further measures out should the circumstances of the pandemic change.

That marked a shift from the “irreversible” ending of restrictions rhetoric from several weeks ago, as infection rates continue to rise across the UK.

On the economic front, passenger numbers at the UK’s primary international gateway were still down nearly 90% compared to the same period in 2019, and were also considerably lower than the current numbers of EU rivals, according to data published by Heathrow.

The west London airport said European countries that had supported their aviation sectors during the coronavirus crisis were seeing a faster recovery, reporting that both Amsterdam-Schiphol and Frankfurt had surpassed their 2019 cargo volumes, growing by 14% and 9% respectively over 2019.

Heathrow, meanwhile, remained down 16% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Passenger traffic from Heathrow to the US remained down by 80%, whereas in the EU it was only 40% lower, as the bloc had unilaterally reopened its borders with the United States.

“While it’s fantastic news that some double-vaccinated passengers will no longer need to quarantine from amber countries, ministers need to extend this policy to US and EU nationals if they want to kickstart the economic country,” said the airport’s chief executive officer, John Holland-Kay.

The UK wealth gap, meanwhile, had widened during the pandemic, as a report suggested the richest 10% gained £50,000 on average.

The Resolution Foundation said it found that the Covid-19 crisis had allowed high-wealth households to amass savings and benefit from rising house prices far more than those with little or no wealth.

It reported that the richest 20% of households were four times more likely than the poorest fifth of households to have increased their savings during the crisis, and 2.5 times as likely to have reduced their debts.

“The rising wealth and widening wealth gaps that marked pre-pandemic Britain have been turbo-charged by the crisis,” said Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation.

“With policymakers facing many tough decisions in the Autumn - from protecting households as unemployment rises to paying for a decent system of social care - they can no longer afford to ignore the dominant role wealth is playing in 21st century Britain.”

In equity markets, travel-related stocks were on the back foot, with engine maker Rolls-Royce down 5.21%, British Airways owner IAG descending 4.24%, budget airlines easyJet and Wizz Air 3.62% and 2.7% lower, travel company TUI off 2.49%, and Premier Inn owner Whitbread 3.12% weaker.

Miners were also under pressure as metals prices fell, with Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore losing 1.2%, 1.56% and 0.74%, respectively.

Online electrical retailer AO World closed flat, having earlier bounced after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies.

The broker pointed to an "attractive" entry point into a "structural winner with a huge long-term growth runway" after the shares fell 44% year-to-date.

On the upside, Admiral Group rallied 3.94% after the insurer said it expected a higher-than-anticipated first-half profit due to an "unusually positive" development in the cost of UK motor injury claims.

The firm guided for pre-tax profit of £450m to £500m and a dividend of 110p to 125p a share.

Tate & Lyle eked out gains of 0.03%, after agreeing to sell a controlling stake in its primary products business in North America and Latin America to private equity outfit KPS Capital Partners for $1.3bn.

The deal, which effectively breaks up the food and drink ingredients maker, would also involve the sale of the company's interests in the Almidones Mexicanos and DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio-Products Company joint ventures.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,125.42 0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,895.86 -0.06%
techMARK (TASX) 4,471.69 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,242.00p 3.94%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 557.00p 2.20%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 206.80p 2.17%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,939.00p 1.57%
Experian (EXPN) 2,984.00p 1.57%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 699.00p 1.48%
Sage Group (SGE) 703.60p 1.41%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,180.50p 1.37%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,762.00p 1.32%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,602.00p 1.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 95.74p -5.21%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 177.96p -4.24%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,046.00p -3.13%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,130.00p -2.88%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,486.00p -2.56%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,712.00p -2.30%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,630.00p -2.13%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 161.40p -1.97%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 157.00p -1.57%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,423.50p -1.56%

FTSE 250 - Risers

CLS Holdings (CLI) 261.00p 5.03%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 347.40p 3.83%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 178.20p 3.31%
Redde Northgate (REDD) 428.00p 2.88%
Elementis (ELM) 158.70p 2.39%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,046.00p 2.25%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 249.40p 2.20%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,397.00p 2.19%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,940.00p 2.01%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 371.60p 1.97%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Cineworld Group (CINE) 73.50p -5.79%
Capita (CPI) 35.33p -5.20%
Energean (ENOG) 684.00p -5.13%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,112.00p -4.79%
Playtech (PTEC) 394.80p -4.37%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 118.80p -4.19%
easyJet (EZJ) 902.00p -3.62%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 228.00p -3.47%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 52.48p -3.46%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 2,530.00p -3.15%