FTSE drops as new tiers for England are revealed
London
LONDON’S top share index fared worse than its
European cousins on Thursday, after the Government revealed details of new local restrictions that will be put in place next week.
The FTSE-100 fell 28.16 points to end the day at 6,362.93. It opened as it meant to go on, dropping to around 6,360 at around 9am, and staying there or thereabouts for the entire day.
Different regions of England found out on Thursday what restrictions will look like in their areas when national lockdown lifts next Wednesday.
Much of the north of England will be put into the tier three category, which includes the harshest restrictions, while London and much of the south will be slightly more free in tier two.
The effect of the new tiers could be seen in London trading where online supermarket Ocado and gambling company Flutter were among the FTSE’S best performers.
Stock markets were closed in New York, as Americans celebrated Thanksgiving.
The German DAX and French CAC indices were uninspired, each edging down by less than 0.1%.
“Without a US intervention, the European markets struggled to put on a worthwhile display this Thursday afternoon, too busy mulling over what they’re thankful for,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
“As Brent Crude dropped 1.1% ... and [with] BP and Shell down, the FTSE suffered a 0.4% decline, kicking it back to 6,360 in one of the day’s more notable moves.”
Unusually, the FTSE fell alongside sterling, which lost 0.4% and 0.3% against the euro and dollar.
The top index is usually helped by a falling pound.
“Sterling is struggling with the Brexit deal mixed signals, with headlines suggesting an agreement is incoming countered by plenty of doom and gloom,” Mr Campbell said.
Clothing firm Boohoo appointed a judge to help it overcome minimum wage worries that have rocked its shares this year. Shares rose
3.4%. Mitchells & Butlers, which owns All Bar One, lost £123 million and cut 1,300 jobs in the year to September, it revealed on Thursday. Shares dropped 0.7%.
Mulberry’s half-year revenues dropped 29%, but it cut losses by around threequarters, sending shares up by 8.7%.
Britvic’s shares closed up 1.4% after it revealed a near9% drop in sales, but a 0.8% rise in pre-tax profit.
Fuller, Smith & Turner dropped 5.4% on the news that October sales were 43% down on the same time last year.
Aviva cut its dividend by a little less than one-third to 21p, in line with expectations. Shares dipped 0.2%.
Lender Amigo again said there was “material uncertainty” about whether it can continue as an ongoing concern as it revealed a £63m pre-tax loss.
Shares rose 1.5%. Mothercare shares rose 3% after saying it fell to a pre-tax £14m loss in the first half of the financial year. This is more than twice last year’s loss.