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(Alliance News) - London stocks started Friday with sharp falls as pandemic-related worries gripped markets once again.
The FTSE 100 index was down 67.91 points, or 1.0%, at 6,458.24 early Friday. The FTSE 250 index also tumbled 1.0%, the mid-cap index down 203.63 points at 20,164.62. The AIM All-Share index lost 0.8% to 1,163.23.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 1.1% at 642.01. The Cboe 250 was down 1.0% at 17,658.95, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.2% at 12,080.81.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.7% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 1.8% early Friday.
"The last few turbulent trading sessions have all but wiped out what had been a strong start to the year," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
"The pandemic remains a major theme, with some havoc being caused by variants of the virus, in turn leading to further lockdowns, strengthened travel restrictions and thus a delay to any economic recovery being given the chance to take hold."
In some positive news on the virus front, a fourth Covid-19 vaccine could be approved for use in the UK within weeks as late-stage trials suggested it was 89% effective in preventing coronavirus.
The UK has secured 60 million doses of the Novavax jab – to be produced on Teesside – which is believed to offer protection against the new UK and South African variants. It was shown to be 89% effective at preventing coronavirus in participants in its phase 3 clinical trial in the UK, which involved more than 15,000 people aged between 18-84, of which 27% were older than 65, Novavax said.
The vaccine will now be assessed by the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed. The jab has shown around 60% effectiveness against the South African variant, which has been worrying scientists due to concerns vaccines may not work against it, but it offered 86% protection against the new UK strain.
In a sign of how Europe has fared under tighter virus restrictions at the end of 2020, French gross domestic product shrank 1.3% in the final three months of the year after rising by 18.5% in the third quarter of 2020.
The loss of activity during the fourth quarter of 2020 was marked by the lockdown in effect from the end of October to mid-December and by the curfews, Insee said. Nevertheless, the total loss of activity was much more moderate than during the first lockdown between March and May 2020.
German GDP for the fourth quarter is due at 0900 GMT.
Ahead of this, the euro traded at USD1.2108 early Friday, down from USD1.2125 late Thursday.
The dollar was higher against major currency pairings on Friday amid the risk-off mood. Sterling was quoted at USD1.3677 early Friday, lower than USD1.3725 at the London equities close on Thursday - the pound's fall helping to cushion the internationally-exposed FTSE 100 from the steeper losses seen on bourses in continental Europe early Friday.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY104.63, up from JPY104.30.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed down 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended down 0.6%.
Brent oil eased to USD55.43 a barrel early Friday from USD55.80 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,844.97 an ounce early Friday, lower than USD1,856.61 on Thursday. Spot silver was trading at USD26.45 an ounce, flat on USD26.44 late Thursday in London, having climbed from USD25.38 on Wednesday.
There were widespread losses on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, threatening a negative end to a month that had started well for equities.
Housebuilders were lower due to worries about the hit to the UK economy from ongoing lockdown measures. Berkeley Group fell 2.5%, Taylor Wimpey was down 2.2% and Barratt Developments fell 1.9%.
At the top of the FTSE 100 was Just Eat Takeaway - a beneficiary of lockdowns given demand for food deliveries - up 1.9%.
Another stock bucking Friday's downbeat trend was Avon Rubber in the FTSE 250, up 3.2%. The respiratory protection equipment manufacturer said trading has continued as expected since December.
The firm said it has seen seen positive order momentum in the Military, First Responder and Team Wendy businesses, and has made progress with updated body armor designs for the US Defense Logistics Agency Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts and US Army Vital Torso Protection contracts.
Avon Rubber said it remains confident in achieving its expectations for the current financial year. It said Team Wendy has performed in line with expectations in the first three months of ownership.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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