London close: Stocks weaker amid EU vaccine concerns
London stocks finished below the waterline on Thursday, as investors eyed the EU vaccine summit, amid ongoing concerns about a third wave of Covid-19.
The FTSE 100 ended the session down 0.57% at 6,674.83, and the FTSE 250 was 0.58% weaker at 21,277.84.
Sterling was in the green, meanwhile, last rising 0.37% on the dollar to $1.3736, and strengthening 0.71% against the euro to trade at €1.1668.
EU leaders were holding a two-day online summit to try and hasten vaccination campaigns on the continent, though it looked likely that they would stop short of banning vaccine exports.
Ahead of the meeting, German chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU should double down on its own production efforts.
“We are seeing continued fears over a sharp reduction in the number of vaccine imports coming from the EU,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.
“With almost 30% of the 70 million vaccine doses exported by the EU having gone to the UK, a decision to limit that flow could severely hamper the UK reopening timeline.
“With the UK clearly well ahead of EU nations in the vaccination drive, there is a real risk that politicians such as Angela Merkel push for action as their popularity wanes.”
On home turf, the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed retailers remained under pressure in March, although the situation was expected to improve next month.
The balance of retailers reporting year-on-year growth in sales was steady compared to February at -45.
Analysts had expected it to improve to -37.
Looking ahead, the picture was brighter, with retailers expecting sales to grow in the year to April.
The retail sales expectations balance for April rose to +17% from -62% in March.
It marked the first time expectations were positive since December 2019, ahead of the re-opening of non-essential shops from 12 April.
But the CBI was keen to point out that the base for comparison is "relatively low", given that April 2020 saw the joint-sharpest fall in sales since the start of the survey in 1983.
“Retailers are looking forward to April with a sense of optimism, given the potential re-opening of the sector across the UK,” said Ben Jones, principal economist at the CBI.
“However, it is clear that the potential easing of domestic restrictions next month will not be a panacea for all retailers.
“Expectations point to a fairly muted recovery, especially when considering that base effects will tend to flatter annual growth next month, given the historic drop in sales in April 2020.”
In equity markets, ex-dividend stocks were a drag, with NatWest down 1.74%, British American Tobacco falling 1.51%, Schroders off 0.52%, Ferguson losing 0.35%, Ferrexpo behind 1.51%, and Close Brothers 1.98% weaker.
Cineworld tumbled 7.59% after saying it swung to a huge full-year loss as the movie house chain felt the full impact of closures during the pandemic and warned any tightening of restrictions would force it to raise extra cash.
Travel stocks were under the cosh again, with Carnival down 2.51%, TUI falling 4.65% and Upper Crust owner SSP 1.34% weaker.
On the upside, Intertek gained 2.24% after JPMorgan said it was its preferred name in the testing, inspection and certification space, followed by Bureau Veritas.
Catering group Compass was ahead 1.09% after it said profitability improved in the second quarter while volumes stayed subdued because of the Covid-19 crisis.
Online trading platform operator CMC Markets rallied 2.93% after lifting its full-year guidance following a "strong" fourth-quarter performance.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,674.83 -0.57%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,277.84 -0.58%
techMARK (TASX) 4,169.04 -0.27%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Persimmon (PSN) 3,021.00p 2.58%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,654.00p 2.24%
M&G (MNG) 207.30p 2.02%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 779.40p 1.96%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,480.00p 1.84%
Experian (EXPN) 2,495.00p 1.71%
SSE (SSE) 1,452.50p 1.43%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,310.00p 1.40%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 180.55p 1.35%
Relx plc (REL) 1,822.50p 1.28%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,902.00p -4.59%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,621.00p -3.83%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,754.00p -3.37%
Glencore (GLEN) 268.85p -3.34%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 189.60p -3.24%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,406.00p -3.14%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,510.00p -3.09%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 164.10p -2.96%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,421.00p -2.88%
Schroders (SDR) 3,448.00p -2.74%
FTSE 250 - Risers
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 4,880.00p 5.40%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 461.00p 2.93%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,792.00p 2.52%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 94.50p 2.39%
Sanne Group (SNN) 630.00p 2.27%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 261.40p 2.17%
Redrow (RDW) 632.00p 2.10%
Drax Group (DRX) 444.40p 2.09%
Biffa (BIFF) 274.00p 2.05%
Hammerson (HMSO) 32.98p 1.98%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 350.80p -8.79%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 95.58p -7.59%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 361.00p -4.65%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 329.50p -4.36%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 307.00p -4.06%
Energean (ENOG) 861.20p -3.98%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 50.08p -3.93%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 462.00p -3.87%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 88.80p -3.79%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 347.80p -3.71%