London open: Stocks slump but supermarkets buck trend
London stocks slumped in early trade on Wednesday, with a string of coronavirus-fuelled dividend suspensions giving investors little to smile about.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 3.7% to 5,099.61.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "The market gives, the market taketh away. Continuing their inconsistent relationship with stimulus news, the European indices tumbled sharply once again on Wednesday despite the announcement of a sizeable package in the UK.
"Chancellor Rishi Sunak, less than a week on from the annual budget, continued to state that the government would do ‘whatever it takes’ to help the economy during the coronavirus crisis, the headline story being a £330 billion fund for business loans.
"Some, however, thought this wasn’t actually enough; even Sunak himself seemed to suggest that he would be back sooner rather than later with a fresh round of measures (especially since renters, the self-employed and many other groups weren’t accounted for by the Tories)."
In equity markets, Rolls-Royce was the standout loser on the top-flight index after a rating downgrade at JPMorgan, while equipment rental firm Ashtead followed close behind.
Cruise operator Carnival and budget airline easyJet were also under pressure.
On the FTSE 250, pub operators Mitchells & Butlers and Marston’s both fell. Marston's said it was unlikely to pay a dividend this year as it tried to save cash and protect its balance sheet from the impact of the coronavirus and government advice for people to avoid pubs and restaurants. Meanwhile, Mitchells & Butlers warned on profits and said recent trading had been severely impacted by the pandemic.
Micro Focus retreated after saying that it not yet seen any material impact from the coronavirus outbreak but that it was scrapping its final dividend to prepare for any potential fallout.
Iron ore company Ferrexpo was also weaker as it posted a rise in full-year profit and revenue but said it was deferring its dividend in light of the pandemic.
Supermarkets were a bright spot, with Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco all higher after the Chancellor said on Tuesday that the government would be giving all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England a 100% business rates holiday for the next year.
Morrisons also got a boost after reporting a rise in full-year pre-tax profit and a jump in recent like-for-like sales thanks to stockpiling.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,099.61 -3.69%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 13,461.65 -3.33%
techMARK (TASX) 2,975.63 -1.90%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 211.60p 10.21%
BT Group (BT.A) 127.34p 5.07%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 189.00p 4.80%
Pearson (PSON) 543.80p 3.42%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,389.00p 2.06%
Tesco (TSCO) 230.00p 1.81%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,478.00p 1.64%
National Grid (NG.) 959.20p 1.13%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,788.00p 1.03%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 455.50p -0.22%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 335.00p -13.77%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,463.50p -13.66%
M&G (MNG) 88.70p -12.44%
Meggitt (MGGT) 279.90p -11.37%
Carnival (CCL) 838.00p -11.10%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 405.00p -10.00%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 308.30p -9.93%
Ferguson (FERG) 4,478.00p -8.61%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,602.50p -8.09%
easyJet (EZJ) 547.80p -8.06%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 843.00p 4.85%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 1,378.00p 2.84%
Marston's (MARS) 22.82p 2.79%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 173.80p 2.24%
Royal Mail (RMG) 151.45p 1.95%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 163.00p 1.87%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,106.00p 1.84%
William Hill (WMH) 49.29p 1.65%
Softcat (SCT) 948.00p 1.39%
Contour Global (GLO) 160.80p 1.39%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 123.80p -11.82%
Vistry Group (VTY) 630.50p -11.57%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 734.00p -11.51%
Capita (CPI) 29.45p -11.32%
National Express Group (NEX) 116.50p -11.20%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 716.20p -10.50%
SSP Group (SSPG) 189.60p -10.14%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 299.70p -10.11%
IWG (IWG) 133.05p -9.92%
Senior (SNR) 77.90p -9.84%