London open: Stocks slide as investors mull UK GDP data
London stocks slid in early trade on Friday, taking their cue from a weak session on Wall Street after data showed that US inflation hit its highest level in January since 1982.
At 0925 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at 7,604.65.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets have opened in the red with travel & leisure and technology leading the declines. The FTSE 100 is under pressure after hot US inflation figures triggered a sell-off stateside with negative momentum dragging the European bourses lower."
On home turf, figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the economy shrank less than expected in December as activity to combat the Omicron variant helped offset the virus’s impact on services.
Output fell 0.2% from November to December in the largest contraction since January 2021. The drop was smaller than the 0.6% average decline forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
Services output fell 0.5%, driven by a 3.2% drop in wholesale and retail trade, where footfall was affected by the spread of the Omicron variant. Accommodation and food services output dropped 9.2% as people cancelled trips and stayed away from pubs and restaurants.
The effect of Covid-19 on services was partly offset by growth in coronavirus testing and vaccinations, which together added 0.7 percentage point to gross domestic product.
The data showed that in 2021, the economy grew 7.5% despite the contraction in December. The yearly rebound followed a 9.4% fall in 2020 as the economy was dented by Covid lockdowns and restrictions.
"GDP fell back slightly in December as the Omicron wave hit with retail and hospitality seeing the biggest impacts," Darren Morgan, the ONS’s director of economic statistics, said. "However, these were partially offset by increases in the test and trace service and vaccination programmes."
In equity markets, Chilean copper miner Antofagasta was among the top gainers on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at Barclays.
Food products group Tate & Lyle surged after it reported a rise in revenues in the final three months of 2021 as it reiterated guidance and said it remained on track to create two businesses by the end of March.
British American Tobacco edged higher after saying it would buy back £2bn of shares as it reported higher annual profit.
On the downside, Rotork was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘hold’ ‘Jefferies.
Victrex lost ground despite saying it had seen a "solid" start to the year, with first-quarter revenues up 9%.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,604.65 -0.88%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,978.29 -1.03%
techMARK (TASX) 4,405.00 -1.11%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Unilever (ULVR) 3,833.50p 1.44%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,358.00p 1.00%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 145.10p 0.76%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,280.50p 0.35%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,796.00p 0.31%
Avast (AVST) 625.40p 0.22%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,126.00p 0.22%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,838.00p 0.09%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,450.00p 0.00%
Meggitt (MGGT) 748.80p -0.03%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,249.00p -3.29%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 12,275.00p -3.16%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 6,978.00p -2.79%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,073.00p -2.68%
Evraz (EVR) 420.60p -2.57%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,100.00p -2.48%
Experian (EXPN) 2,960.00p -2.47%
Halma (HLMA) 2,369.00p -2.47%
British Land Company (BLND) 538.80p -2.46%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,812.00p -2.29%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 739.00p 7.07%
Playtech (PTEC) 648.00p 1.17%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 212.00p 0.95%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 186.60p 0.86%
Coats Group (COA) 63.60p 0.79%
Capricorn Energy (CNE) 208.00p 0.68%
Ninety One (N91) 266.60p 0.60%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 205.00p 0.49%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 308.00p 0.49%
Beazley (BEZ) 489.30p 0.45%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 154.60p -4.92%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,138.00p -4.69%
Rotork (ROR) 317.80p -4.45%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 15.05p -4.20%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 39.52p -3.61%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 237.50p -3.46%
Trainline (TRN) 234.00p -3.23%
Ascential (ASCL) 331.20p -3.21%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 278.20p -3.07%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 232.40p -2.92%