London midday: Stocks in the red; Prudential slumps on capital raise plans
London stocks were still in the red by midday on Thursday as worries about the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine rollout dented sentiment.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at 6,509.17.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "In what could the first major post-Brexit row between the UK and EU, both sides are at odds over the distribution of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
"A shortage of preparations in the European bloc has led to a public spat with Astra, including Brussels dismissing the company’s claim that the UK has first dibs on locally-produced doses. As for the UK government, it appears to have no interest in a compromise, with reports suggesting that only after 100 million doses have been manufactured for the British population will plants in Oxford and Staffordshire be open to supply other nations.
"The argument appears to have undermined confidence in not only the vaccine rollout itself, but the market optimism that came alongside its development."
Overnight, US stocks sank as Reddit retail investors continued to disrupt Wall Street.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said there is a clear sense markets are upset and concerned about what they are seeing from the "Reddit ramps".
"The mechanics of the latest craze are rather new, which makes it hard for us market watchers to be fully versed in all that is happening. And yet the point I’d like to stress is that this kind of behaviour among investors - chasing individual stocks to the moon - has been seen a million times in the past. It usually ends one way - many profit, but most lose out."
In equity markets, Prudential shares slid after the insurer announced plans to separate its US business through a demerger and said it was considering raising $2.5bn to $3bn in new equity.
Paragon Banking Group and Victrex were weaker as their stock went ex-dividend.
On the upside, precious metals miner Fresnillo surged, having slumped on Wednesday after lowering its gold output forecast.
Drinks company Diageo rallied after it increased its interim dividend as it reported first-half operating profit down 8.3% to £2.2bn.
Tate & Lyle was also on the rise after it hailed a "strong" third-quarter performance, with volume growth in each business and group revenue up 8% compared to the same period a year ago.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air flew higher despite saying it swung to a loss in the third quarter as revenues were dented by the pandemic.
EasyJet was also a touch firmer, reversing earlier losses after the budget airline said it expected to fly no more than 10% of 2019 capacity in the second quarter as tighter coronavirus restrictions triggered an 88% slump in revenue for the three months.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,509.17 -0.89%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,149.11 -0.64%
techMARK (TASX) 4,096.82 -0.65%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 981.20p 6.19%
Diageo (DGE) 2,948.50p 3.35%
Kingfisher (KGF) 282.90p 3.17%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 548.60p 2.89%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,405.00p 2.14%
Glencore (GLEN) 242.25p 1.87%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,758.00p 1.44%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,188.00p 1.30%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 771.80p 1.26%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 140.75p 1.26%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Prudential (PRU) 1,217.00p -9.25%
Pearson (PSON) 824.60p -4.98%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,230.00p -3.23%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,415.00p -3.21%
British Land Company (BLND) 450.70p -2.87%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,567.00p -2.85%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,334.50p -2.63%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,293.80p -2.55%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,649.00p -2.54%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,362.20p -2.46%
FTSE 250 - Risers
AO World (AO.) 315.50p 5.17%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,364.00p 3.81%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 682.00p 3.18%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 219.90p 2.76%
Bellway (BWY) 2,780.00p 2.13%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 196.70p 1.97%
Biffa (BIFF) 232.00p 1.53%
Drax Group (DRX) 367.40p 1.49%
Synthomer (SYNT) 432.80p 1.45%
Royal Mail (RMG) 401.70p 1.44%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Cineworld Group (CINE) 75.00p -6.72%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 448.60p -5.91%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 361.00p -5.74%
Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 2,155.00p -4.43%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 89.70p -3.65%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,200.00p -3.61%
Future (FUTR) 1,682.00p -3.56%
Greencore Group (GNC) 117.20p -3.38%
Hammerson (HMSO) 22.05p -3.29%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 410.00p -3.19%