London midday: Stocks in freefall again as coronavirus roils markets
London equity markets had extended losses by midday on Friday, with travel and leisure shares under the cosh amid growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, as investors eyed the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 was down 3.1% at 6,498.33.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "At this point it is hard to come up with something new to say about the situation. With no signs of the outbreak slowing down - the UK, for example, saw its first Covid-19 death on Thursday - investors remain gripped with a near unshakeable panic, the week’s various central bank rate cuts only serving to reinforce the seriousness of the situation."
All eyes will be on the release of the US non-farm payrolls report, unemployment rate and average earnings, all due at 1330 GMT.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said the report is expected to show that 175,000 jobs were added last month, and that would be a drop-off from the 225,000 added in January. The unemployment rate is tipped to hold steady at 3.6%, while yearly average earnings are expected to cool to 3% from 3.1%.
"The wages figure will be closely watched as workers who earn more tend to spend more. It is a little concerning that earnings have cooled since last summer where the rate was as high as 3.5%," he said.
Earlier, the latest figures from Halifax showed that UK house prices rose for the fourth month in a row in February, although the outbreak of the coronavirus was cited as a risk going forward.
House prices were up 2.8% on the year, down from a 4.1% increase in January and below expectations of a 4% jump. On the month, prices edged up 0.3% in February following a 0.4% increase the month before, coming in above expectations of a 0.2% uptick.
Halifax managing director Russell Galley said the UK housing market had remained steady heading into early spring.
"Much like we saw in January, the increases seen in February reflect the continued improvement of key market indicators. The sustained level of buyer and seller activity is strong compared to recent years, with positive employment conditions and a competitive mortgage market continuing to support demand.
"Looking ahead, there are a number of risks, including the potential impact of coronavirus, which continue to exert pressure on the economy and we wait to see how these will affect housing market sentiment later in the year."
It was a sea of red in equity markets, with Informa suffering the heaviest losses on the top-flight index after a rating downgrade at Exane BNP Paribas.
In terms of sector, travel and leisure stocks were pacing the declines once again amid worries about the impact of the coronavirus, with InterContinental Hotels, Premier Inn owner Whitbread, cruise operator Carnival and travel company TUI all weaker.
Outsourcer Capita was the worst performer on the FTSE 250 a day after disappointing results, as Deutsche Bank slashed its price target on the stock to 80p from 150p.
Cineworld was in the red again, having slumped 13% on Thursday, as it insisted that it had not seen any "material" impact on movie theatre admissions due to the Covid-19 outbreak and that it had continued to see "good levels" of admission in all its territories. The shares were likely being hit by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Citi.
Victrex was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘underweight’ at Barclays, Jupiter Fund Management was on the back foot after a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Berenberg and Hammerson fell after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.
On the upside, Polymetal, Fresnillo and Centamin all shone, with gold prices up as investors looked for somewhere safe to park their cash.
Elsewhere, supermarket retailers Tesco and Morrisons were clinging on to positive territory, no doubt underpinned by stockpiling news.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,498.33 -3.09%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,675.85 -3.35%
techMARK (TASX) 3,766.33 -2.78%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,328.00p 2.47%
Tesco (TSCO) 242.30p 0.58%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 184.75p -0.24%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,643.00p -0.90%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 526.00p -1.16%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,423.50p -1.31%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 209.30p -1.37%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,055.00p -1.38%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,380.00p -1.63%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,415.50p -1.63%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Informa (INF) 578.40p -6.50%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,830.00p -6.25%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,405.00p -6.17%
Carnival (CCL) 2,007.00p -5.91%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 565.00p -5.75%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,740.00p -5.73%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 510.20p -5.59%
Kingfisher (KGF) 169.05p -5.51%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 185.45p -5.36%
Prudential (PRU) 1,195.00p -5.31%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Finablr (FIN) 44.12p 6.98%
Fresnillo (FRES) 680.00p 2.10%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 164.00p 1.86%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 145.05p 1.43%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 900.00p 0.90%
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 96.10p 0.73%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 244.50p 0.41%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 83.30p 0.36%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 174.40p 0.06%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 687.00p 0.00%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Capita (CPI) 65.56p -15.84%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 262.00p -11.93%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 2,440.00p -10.13%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 111.85p -7.94%
Hyve Group (HYVE) 60.30p -7.66%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,557.00p -7.38%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 233.00p -6.61%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 192.15p -6.50%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 108.25p -6.44%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 128.60p -6.44%