London midday: Stocks maintain losses amid coronavirus concerns
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 23 Jan 2020
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still in the red by midday on Thursday, with miners under pressure amid renewed concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,551,02.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Traders are a little on the nervous side in light of the news the coronavirus situation is getting worse. The death toll in China has ticked up to 17 and there are nearly 600 confirmed cases of the infection.
"Traders are cutting their exposure to stocks for fear the health crisis will spread."
Investors were eyeing the European Central Bank interest rate decision at 1245 GMT, followed by the press conference at 1330 GMT.
In UK equity markets, miners - which are heavily dependent on demand from China - were the standout losers, with Antofagasta, Rio Tint, BHP and Glencore all lower. Russian steelmaker Evraz was also weaker.
Airlines easyJet and IAG flew lower, while InterContinental Hotels was down on news that it will allow guests to change or cancel stays at most Chinese hotels scheduled up to 3 February at no additional cost.
John Laing retreated after the infrastructure company said that chief executive officer Olivier Brousse has resigned to take up a senior position at Veolia Group.
Elsewhere, Paypoint slid as it said the improvement in pre-tax profit for the year to the end of March 2020 will be "at a more modest rate" than previously expected.
Kaz Minerals was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' at VTB Capital while Lancashire was hit by a downgrade to 'reduce' at HSBC.
On the upside, Renishaw rose after upgrades to 'equalweight' and 'overweight', respectively, at Morgan Stanley and Rightmove was boosted by an upgrade to 'neutral' at JPMorgan.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,551.02 -0.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,661.79 -0.46%
techMARK (TASX) 4,229.16 -0.07%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 661.80p 1.97%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,145.00p 1.48%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 970.80p 1.38%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 154.60p 1.24%
Pearson (PSON) 582.20p 1.15%
British Land Company (BLND) 584.80p 1.11%
Meggitt (MGGT) 686.20p 1.00%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 218.50p 0.97%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 750.90p 0.93%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 359.60p 0.93%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 386.90p -3.42%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,477.00p -3.27%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 881.40p -2.82%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 617.00p -2.68%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,297.50p -2.55%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,880.00p -2.31%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,510.50p -2.02%
Carnival (CCL) 3,512.00p -1.95%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,035.00p -1.69%
Aveva Group (AVV) 5,090.00p -1.55%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 3,760.00p 6.27%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 52.10p 5.04%
Synthomer (SYNT) 348.60p 2.59%
Future (FUTR) 1,486.00p 2.34%
IP Group (IPO) 70.50p 1.59%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 226.50p 1.57%
Hammerson (HMSO) 254.90p 1.39%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 134.36p 1.34%
Assura (AGR) 77.10p 1.18%
Finablr (FIN) 134.10p 1.13%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 491.50p -4.86%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 148.20p -4.63%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,002.00p -4.02%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 165.10p -3.11%
Contour Global (GLO) 198.20p -3.08%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,970.00p -2.72%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 202.90p -2.69%
John Laing Group (JLG) 377.20p -2.68%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 146.15p -2.57%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 740.50p -2.50%
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