FTSE flat as airline stocks nosedive

London’s top index shrugged off a collapse in its European cousins, as it started off the week with more or less no change.

The FTSE 100 closed the day down a meagre 0.2 per cent, or 9.28 points, to 5,753.78.

Airline stocks took some of the biggest hits, with Easyjet falling 7.2 per cent, and British Airways owner IAG losing 5.2 per cent of its value.

Rolls-royce, which makes plane engines, also dropped heavily, by 6.9 per cent.

It was a tough day for many airlines across the world. The main US carriers – Delta, American, Southwest and United Continental – were all in the red.

It came after legendary investor Warren Buffett revealed he had sold massive stakes in the companies, said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets. He commented: “The savvy investor said he has no interest in holding stocks that ‘chew through money’.”

Even Air France took a hit after the EU approved its €7 billion (£6.1bn) bail-out from the French government.

In company news, shares in cruise giant Carnival fell by almost 4 per cent as it announced that one of its subsidiaries plans to resume sailings in August.

Carnival Cruise Line will get eight ships back into service, it said. The Carnival group also owns P&O Cruises and Cunard, which have suspended all cruises until at least the end of July.

Travel news continued to dominate as shares in car dealership Pendragon slipped 7 per cent to 7.6p after it abandoned talks with rival Lookers over a potential merger. The day was not much sweeter for sugar maker Tate & Lyle, which fell by 4.6 per cent to 663.4p after revealing that March trading was rather unaffected by coronavirus, but that April had brought “significant changes in demand patterns”.

Hotel Chocolat notched up a 3 per cent gain to close at 340p on the news that online sales surged in the days running up to Easter.

Finally, the Financial Reporting Council revealed it has opened an investigation into EY over its audit of troubled healthcare firm NMC Health, which fell into administration last month.

NMC was a member of the FTSE 100 until its collapse. It has since been delisted from the London Stock Exchange.