London open: Stocks drop on vaccine rollout woes; Reddit frenzy in focus
London stocks fell in early trade on Friday as worries about the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and Reddit-fuelled market chaos knocked sentiment.
At 0855 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 1% at 6,464.42.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "The Reddit revolution has done a number on the European and US markets, scaring investors away from the message board-led volatility.
"Of course, it’s not the GameStop saga alone. The vaccine rollout process in Europe has hit a confidence-undermining road bump this week, with the public spat between the UK, EU and AstraZeneca, while an end to lockdown in the UK appears nowhere in sight.
"It is telling how risk-off investors are feeling this Friday that news the Novavax covid-19 vaccine is nearly 90% effective - including against the UK variant - failed to induce the same dose of optimism as previous announcements of its kind."
On the corporate front, specialist lender Paragon Banking Group edged lower after it reported a fall in first-quarter lending volumes as Covid-19 lockdowns stalled house sales, but said it expected a pickup as buyers rushed to complete purchases ahead of the end of the stamp duty holiday in March.
Evraz was also a touch weaker after it said steel production rose 7.4% in the fourth quarter as its Russian plant increased activity after repairs and volumes improved in North America.
Trainline was hit by a downgrade to ‘underweight’ at Barclays.
On the upside, Just Eat Takeaway, which has benefited from Covid restrictions and lockdowns, was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100.
Avon Rubber gained after saying it was confident about meeting expectations for annual results as the company reported strong demand from military customers and for respiratory products during the pandemic.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,464.42 -0.95%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,203.22 -0.81%
techMARK (TASX) 4,066.16 -0.76%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,148.00p 1.22%
SSE (SSE) 1,499.50p 0.47%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 146.00p 0.27%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 631.60p 0.25%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 126.70p 0.09%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,617.00p 0.04%
Pearson (PSON) 800.20p 0.03%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 8,620.00p 0.00%
Evraz (EVR) 501.60p -0.12%
Diageo (DGE) 2,938.50p -0.15%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 760.00p -2.41%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 386.70p -2.19%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,542.00p -1.98%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,489.50p -1.94%
Avast (AVST) 472.80p -1.91%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,574.00p -1.90%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,025.00p -1.82%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,221.00p -1.81%
Rightmove (RMV) 603.20p -1.73%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,643.00p -1.70%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,200.00p 3.23%
Rank Group (RNK) 125.80p 2.28%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 213.00p 1.82%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 123.80p 1.68%
IWG (IWG) 323.40p 1.51%
Genus (GNS) 4,806.00p 1.44%
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (BRSC) 1,680.00p 1.33%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,148.00p 1.22%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,339.00p 1.06%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 375.00p 0.94%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Trainline (TRN) 399.80p -5.08%
Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust (HSL) 985.00p -4.18%
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 76.80p -3.76%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 192.00p -3.71%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 630.00p -3.23%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 90.00p -3.12%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 284.60p -3.00%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 263.00p -2.77%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 284.00p -2.74%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 129.50p -2.67%