FTSE 250 movers: Travel stocks pace gains on Covid-19 news, after Norwegian Air decision to ditch long-haul

Travel and leisure stocks, ranging from cruise line operator Carnival through to TUI AG and all the listed airline groups were leading the pack on Thursday thanks to positive news on the pandemic front and after Norwegian Air announced that it would cancel its long-haul routes.

Overnight, US drug giant Johnson&Johnson published data from early clinical trials showing that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate was both safe and generated a 'promising' immune response.

That follows European Union emergency use approval for Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine on Monday and AstraZeneca's filing with the bloc for permission to market its own vaccine on Tuesday.

Furthermore, on Wednesday Pfizer executives told EU MPs that early trials to see if their vaccine blocked transmmission of the virus, instead of just protecting people, were also 'promising'.

For his part, in comments sent to clients, IG analyst Josh Mahony put the emphasis on the news out of Norwegian Air as the main driver behind gains in the Travel and Leisure sector.

Earlier, Norwegian Air announced that it would ditch its long-haul routes and in the process its aggressive growth model with implications for the wider sector.

"For now, the fact that Norwegian Air has decided to cut their service in such a dramatic fashion is acting as a positive rather than a warning sign for easyJet, IAG, and TUI shareholders," Mahony said.

"However, with Norwegian Air having cut their long-haul routes, and Delta Air having halved their cash burn in Q4, it is clear that the industry will need to batten down the hatches as global Covid restrictions continue to stifle revenues."

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,722.29 0.51%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Just Group (JUST) 81.45p 18.13%
Carnival (CCL) 1,326.00p 6.34%
easyJet (EZJ) 811.00p 6.32%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 177.20p 5.29%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 417.20p 5.01%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 79.10p 4.77%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 11,340.00p 4.52%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 554.00p 4.43%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,176.00p 4.07%
Rotork (ROR) 346.80p 3.89%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,196.00p -7.72%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,310.00p -4.22%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,593.80p -3.52%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 166.05p -3.40%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,305.00p -3.33%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,070.00p -3.27%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 405.40p -3.01%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 691.80p -3.00%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,375.50p -2.55%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 344.60p -2.46%