Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - London's slow start to the week looks set to continue on Tuesday, with growing Delta virus concerns driving a risk-off mood.
In early corporate news, food ordering website Just Eat Takeaway saw a boom in first half orders, while contracts-for-difference trading platform Plus500 struggled to keep up with last year's customer adds. Telecommunications operator BT has found a new chair.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 20.18 points lower at 7,133.80 on Tuesday. The blue-chip index closed down 64.73 points, or 0.9%, at 7,153.98 on Monday.
"The overriding theme was caution with markets unable to shake off nerves about the Covid-19 delta variant and its effects on the admittedly K-shaped global recovery after recent data disappointments from the US and China," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda, said.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.4% on Tuesday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 2.2% lower, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended down 0.9%.
Halley continued: "That is balanced by the irresistible urge to buy the dip, notable on Wall Street last night, where an early sell-off was erased later in the session. The net result is that across multiple asset classes, markets are nervously marching on the spot."
Stocks in New York ended mostly higher on Monday, recovering from steep early declines. Dow Jones Industrial Average set a fresh high, closing up 0.3%. The S&P 500 also ended at a new record high, up 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.2%.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "While US markets appear able to shrug off most of the negative news, recent data does appear to show that some parts of the US economy are suffering a crisis of confidence."
On Tuesday, New Zealand recorded its first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 in six months, sparking efforts to trace the origins of the infection as officials pondered a response.
The health department said the case was identified in Auckland, the country's largest city, adding "a link between the case and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established".
It said ministers would meet later Tuesday to determine how to respond to New Zealand's first community case since February 28.
In Japan, the government said it will expand a coronavirus state of emergency to seven new regions as it battles a record wave of infections a week before the Paralympic Games get underway.
Virus emergency measures that ban restaurants and bars from selling alcohol and require them to close by 8 pm are already in place in Tokyo and five other regions, and had been due to end by August 31.
But the government will now expand the measure to additional areas, with the restrictions in all parts of the country running until September 12.
"[Infection] is spreading across Japan on a scale we have never experienced before," said Yasutoshi Nishimura, the coronavirus response minister.
"The number of patients in serious condition is rising each day," he said at an expert meeting.
In recent days, Japan has reported more than 20,000 daily cases nationwide, a record for the country.
The UK unemployment rate came in slightly lower than expectations in the second quarter of 2021, early data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday.
The unemployment rate for the three months to June was estimated to be 4.7%, down a touch from 4.8% for the three months to May.
This improved upon market expectations, according to FXStreet, which saw the unemployment rate remaining unchanged. The UK jobless rate started 2021 at 5.0%, representing the three months to January.
Also, early estimates for July indicate that the number of payrolled employees rose by 2.0% compared with the same month the year before, which is a rise of 576,000 employees. However, the UK statistics office noted the number of payrolled employees remains down by 0.7% since February 2020, a fall of 201,000.
The ONS said there were 28.9 million payrolled employees in the UK in July, which is up 0.6% from the previous month.
In London, Just Eat Takeaway reported 61% growth in orders in the first half, leading to a surge in interim revenue.
"In the first six months of this year, Just Eat Takeaway.com continued to invest significantly, predominantly in the historically underinvested legacy Just Eat countries. Our consumer base, restaurant selection and order frequency have strongly increased, which will lead to improved profitability going forward," Chief Executive Jitse Groen said.
In the six months to June 30, the online food delivery platform booked an operating loss of EUR355 million, sharply wider from the EUR11 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
This followed a jump in courier costs to EUR1.02 billion from EUR181 million.
Revenue more than doubled to EUR1.77 billion, however, from EUR675 million, as orders grew to 412.4 million, with 27% growth in the US to 134.4 million.
Average transaction value slipped to EUR25.83 from EUR26.70.
For 2021, Just Eat is guiding for order growth of more than 45% and gross transaction value of between EUR28 billion and EUR30 billion.
Telecommunications provider BT has named current Whitbread PLC, ASOS PLC and Kantar Group Ltd chair Adam Crozier as its new chair, replacing outgoing Jan du Plessis.
Crozier will take up the role on December 1, after becoming chair designate at the start of November.
On taking up the role with BT, Crozier will step down as chair of online fashion retailer ASOS at the end of November, and will also step down as a non-executive director of Sony Corp at the end of 2021.
Glencore has invested in battery startup Britishvolt, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Britishvolt is a Blyth, Northumberland-based company planning to build a GBP2.6 billion factory on the site of a former coal power station to make batteries for electric vehicles. As part of the deal, Glencore will supply 30% of the cobalt that Britishvolt uses to make batteries from 2024 to 2030.
Glencore did not disclose the size of its investment, but it will become one of the startup's largest backers, the FT said, citing the two companies.
Trading platform Plus500 saw its first half revenue sink, as it was unable to match the amount of new customers from a year before.
Pretax profit fell to USD188.7 million in the six months to June 30 from USD363.2 million a year before.
Revenue sunk 39% year on year to USD346.2 million from USD564.2 million.
Plus500's active customers grew 2% to 333,940, but its new customers in the period dropped 31% to 136,980.
Average revenue per user was down 40% to USD1,037.
Chief Executive David Zruia said: "Future growth will be delivered through continued organic investments in our business, our technology and targeted bolt-on acquisitions to further expand our CFD offering, launch new trading products, introduce new financial products and deepen engagement with our customers. Having increased our expectations for the outlook for the group, the board is increasingly confident that Plus500 will continue to deliver further growth and consistent levels of cash generation over the medium to long term."
The pound was quoted at USD1.3805 early Tuesday, down from USD1.3850 at the London equities close Monday. The euro was priced at USD1.1766, down from USD1.1785.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.24, up from JPY109.15.
Oanda's Halley said: "A dearth of tier-1 [economic] data will leave markets to ruminate in their own juices, and the overlying theme is likely to be risk aversion powered by the Delta variant. That should limit equity exuberance and support haven currencies, including the US dollar, at the expense of emerging market FX and the antipodeans. At the same time, energy prices are likely to trade heavily as well."
Brent oil was quoted at USD69.06 a barrel Tuesday morning, down from USD69.15 late Monday. Gold was trading at USD1,791.60 an ounce, higher against USD1,786.04.
The economic events calendar on Tuesday has eurozone economic growth figures at 1000 BST and US retail sales numbers at 1330 BST.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
