London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.1% at 6,707.92 in afternoon trade on Friday amid inflation worries.
Travel and leisure-related stocks were weaker, with engine maker Rolls-Royce, British Airways owner IAG, caterer Compass Group and Premier Inn owner Whitbread all lower. Traders pointed to worries about a third wave in Europe, after France imposed fresh lockdown measures on Thursday.
Supermarkets were the standout gainers, meanwhile, with Morrisons, Ocado, and Sainsbury’s all higher.
Elsewhere, National Grid rose after HSBC upgraded the shares to ‘buy’. On Thursday, the company announced that it had agreed to buy Western Power Distribution (WPD) from PPL Corp of the US for £7.8bn and to sell Narragansett Electric (Neco) to PPL for $3.8bn (£2.7bn) to shift its business towards electricity.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 179.90p 1.24%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,004.00p 1.21%
National Grid (NG.) 837.80p 1.06%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,214.00p 1.01%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 243.40p 1.00%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,789.00p 1.00%
Kingfisher (KGF) 315.60p 0.99%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,451.50p 0.83%
Avast (AVST) 473.00p 0.77%
Pennon Group (PNN) 970.00p 0.71%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 118.85p -4.58%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 206.80p -4.17%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,793.00p -3.77%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,037.00p -3.64%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 426.25p -3.47%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 486.00p -3.42%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,455.50p -3.39%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,314.00p -3.18%
3i Group (III) 1,145.00p -3.09%
Glencore (GLEN) 278.75p -3.04%
