Portfolio

London open: Stocks little changed amid worries about US Covid surge

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Monday 29 Jun 2020

London open: Stocks little changed amid worries about US Covid surge

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were little changed in early trade on Monday amid growing concerns about rising coronavirus infections in the US.
At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 6,161.99.

In the US, Texas, Florida and Arizona have all reversed some of their reopening plans following a spike in new cases. Meanwhile, Leicester could be the first city in England to face a local lockdown after recording 658 new cases in the two weeks to 16 June, many of which are linked to outbreaks at food production plants.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Global coronavirus cases crossed the 10 million mark over the weekend, with around 1 million new cases per week according to the WHO and deaths now at half a million. In reality, these figures will be much higher, due to reporting discrepancies from nation to nation.

"The US accounts for around a quarter of both totals, the country regularly hitting record one-day case increases en route to 2.5 million known infections and over 125,000 deaths. States like Texas and Florida - the latter which from the beginning has had some of the laxest lockdown measures imaginable - have been especially badly hit, causing both to reverse their recently announced reopening plans.

"Yet, the market's mood was more uneasy than sombre or panicked - and in some places, it actually erred on the perkier side of things. This isn't necessarily surprising. Investors have been inconsistent in how they've approached the likelihood of a potential second wave, veering between outright distress, nervous calm and fingers-in-ears positivity, sort of on a whim."

In equity markets, IAG flew higher after British Airways reportedly reached a deal to cut 350 pilots and put another 300 in a pool for re-hire when needed.

Other travel stocks, such as Premier Inn owner Whitbread, were also on the rise, along with budget airline easyJet, travel company TUI and cruise operator Carnival also higher.

Elsewhere, Energean surged after saying it had agreed to exclude Edison E&P's Norwegian subsidiary from its takeover deal, and cut capital expenditure guidance as oil companies wrestle with a slump in prices amid the coronavirus crisis. The deal, originally worth $750m, will now cost Energean a gross $284m after ditching Edison's Algerian assets in April.

Capex guidance was cut to $760m - $780m from $840 million. This decrease is despite the inclusion of $25m -$30m spending on UK North Sea assets and therefore reflected a further $85m - $110m cut to underlying guidance, Energean said.



Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,161.99 0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,129.52 0.10%
techMARK (TASX) 3,715.76 0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 228.80p 3.16%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 292.50p 2.63%
ITV (ITV) 73.50p 2.45%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,571.00p 2.38%
3i Group (III) 841.80p 2.23%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,183.00p 1.90%
WPP (WPP) 624.40p 1.89%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,235.00p 1.82%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 636.60p 1.76%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 145.05p 1.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Unilever (ULVR) 4,418.00p -2.24%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,988.00p -2.21%
Diageo (DGE) 2,656.50p -1.61%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,639.50p -1.32%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,507.00p -1.21%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 189.75p -1.09%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 205.40p -1.06%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 123.92p -1.05%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,077.50p -1.03%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,488.00p -1.00%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Energean (ENOG) 470.00p 5.98%
easyJet (EZJ) 684.00p 4.97%
Drax Group (DRX) 233.00p 4.39%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 463.00p 4.28%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 53.05p 4.22%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 374.80p 3.56%
AO World (AO.) 144.80p 3.43%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 286.00p 3.06%
888 Holdings (888) 174.00p 2.72%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,465.00p 2.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Workspace Group (WKP) 653.00p -4.60%
Just Group (JUST) 50.00p -4.58%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 295.00p -3.59%
William Hill (WMH) 119.80p -2.48%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 268.50p -2.36%
Capita (CPI) 44.28p -2.21%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 319.00p -1.97%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 255.00p -1.92%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 921.00p -1.92%
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 67.80p -1.74%

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