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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Friday with miners weighing on the FTSE 100, as apprehension grows over rising coronavirus cases of the Delta variant with restrictions set to lift in England on Monday.
Coronavirus infections are continuing to rise in England, with one in 95 people infected across the country, according to new figures.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that more than half a million people in private households in England are likely to have had Covid-19 in the week to July 10.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 3.93 points, or 0.1%, at 7,008.09. The blue chip index lost 0.3% this week.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 index closed down 34.25 points, or 0.2%, at 22,467.00, ending the week 0.8% lower. The AIM All-Share index closed 0.65 of a point higher at 1,221.49, ending the week 2.2% lower.
The Cboe UK 100 index closed down 0.5% at 697.40. The Cboe 250 closed down 0.2% at 20,146.70, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.5% at 15,079.20.
In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.5%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.6%.
"European stocks have undergone another week of choppiness without actually going anywhere, finishing the week on the back foot in the process," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
"Today’s price action has seen the FTSE 100 drop below 7,000 this afternoon predominantly as a result of weakness in the basic resources sector and weaker metals prices, with Glencore, Rio Tinto and Anglo American all falling back. The sector wasn’t helped by a disappointing production report from Rio Tinto which suggested the miner would struggle to hit its iron ore guidance after a tough quarter, hampered by labour shortages and bad weather," Hewson added.
In the FTSE 100, DCC ended the best performer, up 2.4%, after the Irish support services firm said it traded "very well" in the seasonally less significant first quarter of its current financial year.
Operating profit growth was well ahead of the prior year and modestly ahead of expectations, driven by "very strong" organic profit growth in DCC Healthcare and DCC Technology.
In addition, DCC said John Moloney will retire as chair and from the board following Friday's annual general meeting. Mark Breuer will succeed Moloney.
Whitbread closed up 1.7% after Peel Hunt raised the Premier Inn owner to Buy from Add.
InterContinental Hotels Group also finished 1.7% higher after UBS upgraded the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza owner to Neutral from Sell.
At the other end of the large-caps, Burberry Group ended the worst performer, down 5.0%. The fashion house reported a strong start to its financial year, with sales now slightly ahead of pre-Covid levels in a sign that luxury retail has re-emerged from the pandemic.
In the 13 weeks to June 26, Burberry's retail revenue jumped 86% year-on-year to GBP479 million from GBP257 million. At constant currency, the leap was 98%. Comparable store sales were 90% higher than they were a year earlier, and up 1% from two years prior, before the onset of the pandemic.
The London-based firm left its annual guidance largely unchanged but did add it now expects 60% growth from its wholesale unit. This was put down to a "stronger order book".
The search for a successor to outgoing Chief Executive Officer Marco Gobbetti is ongoing, the company added.
Rio Tinto closed 3.4% lower after the Anglo-Australian miner said it expects iron ore shipments at the lower end of its 2021 guidance range as output was curbed by rainfall, Covid-19, tie-in and ramp up of brownfield replacement mines, and cultural heritage management concerns.
The miner said production of its primary product, Pilbara iron ore mined in Western Australia, fell in the first half of 2021.
Rio's Pilbara operations produced 152.3 million tonnes of iron ore in the first half of 2021, 5.0% lower than the first half of 2020. This was due to above-average rainfall, shutdowns to enable replacement mines to be tied in, processing plant availability, and cultural heritage management.
Glencore and Anglo American ended down 3.5% and 2.8% respectively.
In the FTSE 250, GCP Student Living ended the standout performer, up 13% at 216 pence, after the student accommodation provider agreed to a GBP969 million takeover from a consortium, which includes Scape Living.
Scape and iQSA Holdco will pay 213 pence per share for the student accommodation investor, valuing it at GBP969 million.
GCP Student shares surged 11% to 214.00p each in London on Friday afternoon. The 213p sum is a 31% premium to GCP's closing price of 163p on July 1, the day before the offer period began.
GCP on July 2 confirmed it had received takeover interest from the consortium, which will be backed by funds managed by APG Asset Management as well as Blackstone Funds.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3788 at the London equities close, down from USD1.3855 at the close Thursday.
The euro stood at USD1.1810 at the European equities close, marginally lower from USD1.1814 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY110.15, up from JPY110.00 late Thursday.
Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close as investors weighed stronger than expected US retail sales against rising cases of Covid-19, driven by the Delta variant.
The DJIA, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite were all down 0.3%.
US retail sales rose in June, the Commerce Department said, with shoppers stepping up purchases at department stores and electronics outlets as pandemic business restrictions ease.
Sales rose 0.6% in June to USD621.3 billion, beating forecasts for a decline after they fell by a downwardly revised 1.7% in May, the data said.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles became the first large US metropolis to reimpose the use of face masks - regardless of vaccination status - in shops, grocery stores, restaurants and workplaces due to a steady increase in Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations.
The new masking order goes into effect midnight Saturday in the county of Los Angeles.
Brent oil was quoted at USD73.27 a barrel at the equities close, down from USD74.22 at the close Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,813.55 an ounce at the London equities close, lower against USD1,824.33 late Thursday.
The economic events calendar on Monday has UK Rightmove house price index data overnight and eurozone construction output at 1000 BST.
The UK corporate calendar on Monday has interim results from recruiter SThree and first-quarter results from stockbroker Charles Stanley.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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