Sector movers: Travel stocks hit in wake of Brussels attacks

UK share indices were trading sideways on Tuesday after the Brussels terror attacks earlier in the day, which from an investment perspective hit travel companies especially hard.

The FTSE 100 index however recovered from its earlier losses in the aftermath of reports emerging of multiple explosions in the Belgian capital, which were later claimed as the work of Isis/Daesh.

"Markets have remained on the back foot all day, with the immediate impact from the events in Brussels slowly diminishing as the session has gone on," said analyst Chris Beauchamp from IG.

Travel, tourism and airline companies to be hit by worries stemming from the Brussels attacks included TUI (down 3.14%), InterContinental Hotels (down 2.17%), British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (down 2.15%) and Ryanair (down 2.41%).

Earlier in the day the airlines, plus Easyjet, has seen their shares drop over 4% after the attacks were reported before trimming some of the losses, with Easyjet ending the session in positive territory.

Sector angst was heightened as FTSE 250 holiday operator Thomas Cook said it was operating in a "volatile market environment", with 5% lower booking levels "broadly" reflecting capacity reductions and pricing "broadly firm" against last year.

"We are also seeing a marked shift in demand, with significantly lower bookings than last year to Turkey, and higher bookings to Spain, other European and major long haul destinations (including the USA and Cuba)," Thomas Cook said.

The company reported its summer programme was 40% sold for the group as a whole, 2% lower than the same time last year, while the winter session was finishing as expected, with 90% of its programme sold, 2% lower than 2015.

It added that charter risk capacity had been reduced by 3% as the uncertain geopolitical environment caused some customers to postpone booking their holidays, leading to a later booking pattern.

This sector concern flew in the face of an optimistic report from the World Travel & Tourism Council, which suggested that outbound Chinese tourists spent some 53% more abroad in 2015 than they did the year before, with European destinations benefitting from a surge in demand for trips further afield from the People's Republic.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,177.89 -0.11%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,865.36 0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 3,098.95 0.69%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,335.00p 3.43%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,674.00p 2.89%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,030.00p 2.33%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,924.00p 2.13%
Old Mutual (OML) 196.50p 1.76%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,540.00p 1.63%
Tesco (TSCO) 200.40p 1.49%
Wolseley (WOS) 3,919.00p 1.42%
Informa (INF) 695.00p 1.39%
3i Group (III) 454.50p 1.38%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 971.50p -3.14%
Capita (CPI) 1,017.00p -2.87%
Standard Life (SL.) 359.00p -2.79%
Barclays (BARC) 156.15p -2.71%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,754.00p -2.17%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 546.00p -2.15%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,075.00p -2.09%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 689.50p -1.85%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 450.30p -1.81%
Prudential (PRU) 1,348.00p -1.64%

FTSE 250 - Risers

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 803.50p 6.35%
Allied Minds (ALM) 451.40p 5.44%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,532.00p 4.50%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 91.70p 3.62%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 279.10p 3.37%
Bellway (BWY) 2,553.00p 3.23%
Drax Group (DRX) 274.70p 2.85%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 256.50p 2.60%
IP Group (IPO) 185.90p 2.59%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,460.00p 2.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sports Direct International (SPD) 378.80p -10.62%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 87.80p -5.08%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 218.90p -3.99%
Evraz (EVR) 87.60p -3.74%
G4S (GFS) 187.90p -2.79%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 266.50p -2.70%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,193.00p -2.61%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 277.60p -2.60%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 909.00p -2.57%
Pendragon (PDG) 35.30p -2.32%