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* FTSE 100 down 3.3%, FTSE 250 drops 4.6%
* Oil prices plunge 8%, hitting battered energy shares
* Asset managers down after Jupiter, Merian take asset hit
* Kromek surges on plans to make medical ventilators
(Updates to market close)
By Devik Jain and Sruthi Shankar
April 15 (Reuters) - Sliding oil prices and grim predictions
about the global economy dragged the FTSE 100 down on Wednesday,
while expectations of a longer British lockdown knocked UK
midcap shares.
The internationally focused FTSE 100 fell 3.3%,
while the FTSE Mid 250 index, comprising companies more
exposed to the British economy, posted deeper losses of 4.6%.
Shares in Royal Dutch Shell and BP fell over
6% each as oil prices dived on concerns about oversupply
concerns and forecasts of global demand crumbling to its worst
levels in a quarter of a century.
"Going forward, sustained oil prices at these levels signal
a risk, with the energy industry being massively disrupted, as
we saw back in 2015," said Brad McMillan, chief investment
officer for Commonwealth Financial Network.
Further, weak U.S. data worsened the mood after the
International Monetary Fund warned the global economy may mark
its steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
With the death toll in Britain rising past 12,000 and tight
lockdown measures in place, economists predict the domestic
economy could shrink by 13% this year.
"A lot of the domestic weakness is around concerns over the
UK economy being locked down for longer," said Roger Jones, head
of equities at London & Capital.
"The UK previously looked like one of the first countries to
come out of the lockdown situation in Europe, and they now look
to be potentially one of the last countries."
Despite aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus measures
helping midcap shares recover about 24% from their March lows,
they are still nearly 31% below all-time highs.
Shares in cinema operator Cineworld slumped 21% to
the bottom of the midcap index, while insurer Hiscox
dropped 13.3% after brokerage Peel Hunt cut its price target on
the stock.
Asset managers came under pressure after Jupiter Fund
Management reported a drop of 18.3% in assets under
management in the first quarter as fears over the pandemic
rattled financial markets. Smaller rival Merian Global Investors
was the worse hit.
Jupiter's shares tumbled 8.6%, while Ashmore Group
, Schroders and Standard Life Aberdeen
dropped between 6% and 8%.
Shares in Kromek, a global supplier of medical
devices, jumped 9.4% after announcing plans to start
manufacturing medical ventilators in Britain and globally under
a licence from Japan's Metran.
(Reporting by Devik Jain and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru;
Editing by Patrick Graham, Uttaresh.V and Pravin Char)
