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British bluechips hit by weak oil; Royal Mail offsets mid-cap losses

Published 08/09/2020, 08:31
Updated 08/09/2020, 19:21
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain

By Shashank Nayar and Ambar Warrick

(Reuters) - The British blue-chip index ended lower on Tuesday as weak oil prices hurt major energy stocks, while losses in the mid-cap index were mitigated by Royal Mail , which rose after it flagged a boost from e-commerce.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (FTSE) ended 0.1% down, with oil major BP Plc (L:BP) weighing the most after crude prices slid on fears of waning demand. [O/R]

Data analytics firm Experian (L:EXPN) was among the top boosts to the index after it raised its second-quarter revenue forecast on strength in its U.S. mortgage business.

The domestically inclined mid-cap index (FTMC) fell 0.1% as losses in consumer discretionary and industrial stocks were offset by gains in Royal Mail (L:RMG) and livestock genetics firm Genus Plc (L:GNS), which surged more than 10% on better-than-expected annual earnings.

Royal Mail topped the mid-cap index, marking a record gain after it said revenues could be much higher than previously expected if Britain can avoid another nationwide lockdown, thanks to a surge in online shopping deliveries.

"It seems we became a nation addicted to online shopping during lockdown with delivery vans accounting for a large amount of traffic up and down the streets," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, noting that the company had benefited greatly from the boom in e-commerce.

Meanwhile, divorce talks between Britain and the EU came to the forefront after Britain threatened to leave the bloc without an agreement.

Uncertainty over the talks is expected to further pressure markets that are still reeling from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.

In earnings-driven news, Britain's largest sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion (L:JD) surged nearly 10% to a more than six-month high after reinstating its annual outlook.

Travis Perkins (L:TPK), Britain's largest distributor of building materials, fell 6.6% as its profit sank 81% in the first half of the year.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain

Small-scale lender International Personal Finance (L:IPF) plunged 18% after it flagged a risk to its ability to continue as a going concern.

Latest comments

FTSE 250 has been saw toothing sideways for months. Today is no different. What a load of garbage!
If for instance - last week the FTSE was 6000 which at that time had gained 1% from the previous day meaning obviously it was lower due to a gain - hold this tight——-if a week later the same FTSE due to weekly activities dropped yesterday to for instance - this is just an illustration... don’t look at the figures but the logic flow of the point made for am not doing arithmatic here but the understanding of the uk stock reading to what it really is is not accurate at all
Let me explain what the stock markets really mean for the uk reading constantly is daily taken out of context but i bet you will still challenge
Seems the market is down today for other reasons:'At 4:25 AM ET (0825 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.5% lower and the CAC 40 in France fell 1.0%. The U.K.'s FTSE index was down just 0.4%, outperforming as the index’s exporting companies benefited from sterling’s weakness caused by the revival of Brexit tail risks.'
Seems the market is down today for other reasons:'At 4:25 AM ET (0825 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.5% lower and the CAC 40 in France fell 1.0%. The U.K.'s FTSE index was down just 0.4%, outperforming as the index’s exporting companies benefited from sterling’s weakness caused by the revival of Brexit tail risks.'
Id don't understand this shower of xxxx. Yesterday market was up because the pound was down and a no deal Brexit was in focus. Today the market is down because the pound is down and a no deal Brexit is in focus. Nothing of the sort...just the big money playing with the little investor's money
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