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(Alliance News) -Â London stocks were shaky on Thursday, though off their worst levels of the morning by midday, as markets nervously watched rising Covid-19 infections in the US.
"It looks like investors are growing increasingly worried about the economic recovery," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst with ThinkMarkets.
The FTSE 100 index was down 8.96 points, or 0.2%, at 6,114.73 Thursday midday - having traded as low as 6,029.25 in the morning. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 140.13 points, or 0.8%, at 17,010.70 and the AIM All-Share index was down 0.2% at 884.20.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.4% at 10,334.78. The Cboe 250 was down 1.2% at 14,516.91, and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.4% at 9,435.02.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both 0.2% higher Thursday afternoon.
Wall Street was pointed to a largely lower start on Thursday, with the Dow Industrials pointed down 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite flat.
The number of new coronavirus infections in the US is approaching record daily levels, with more than 35,900 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
That brings the number of cases in the country to nearly 2.4 million, the tracker from the Baltimore-based university showed at 8:30 pm local time Wednesday, after several days in which the number of cases has surged.
Nearly half of the 50 US states have seen an increase in infections over the past two weeks, with some - such as Texas and Florida - posting daily records.
Some US officials who loosened restrictions on business, dining, public gatherings and tourism are now urging residents to again stay home.
Disneyland, near Los Angeles, delayed its planned July 17 reopening without announcing a new date for the world's second-most visited theme park, while Apple and Nike have closed stores that had recently reopened. The issue is becoming so bad that former hotspots New York, Connecticut and New Jersey said they will impose a 14-day quarantine on people arriving from areas with high infection rates.
ThinkMarkets's Razaqzada said: "The persistence of the virus and the rebound in cases has sparked concerns that some US states may be forced to unwind or slow measures to reopen businesses. Several US state governors have already said that they are prepared to reinforce restrictions to contain the surge in infections, after more than half of US states reported a rise in new cases, while the likes of Florida and California have been breaking daily records."
Also weighing on the minds of traders was the US Trade Representative saying it is considering levying taxes of up to USD3.1 billion on European products over the fairness of subsidies to Airbus.
The USTR document listed products from France, Germany, Spain and Britain, ranging from olives to decaffeinated coffee, as possibly subject to the new tariffs. The proposed measures would be "very damaging", said a European Commission spokesman.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2442 midday Thursday, flat on USD1.2427 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro traded at USD1.1222 on Thursday, down from USD1.1263 late Wednesday.
The mood among German consumers is brightening further as the country emerges from months of coronavirus lockdown, pollsters GfK said, but still has ground to make up on the pre-pandemic world.
"Rapid reopening of the economy and society in Germany is helping consumers get over the corona shock more and more," GfK said, as its monthly forward-looking barometer predicted negative 9.6 points for July, up nine points on this month.
The measure had fallen as low as negative 23.1 points, an all-time low, in May.
Gold was quoted at USD1,759.97 an ounce on Thursday, lower than USD1,775.65 on Wednesday. Brent oil eased to USD40.00 a barrel from USD40.44.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY107.21, up versus JPY106.44.
In London, Rightmove was towards the bottom of the FTSE 100 after Berenberg cut the property portal to Sell from Hold.
Rightmove shares were down 3.7% at midday.
Johnson Matthey fell 2.3% after London Stock Exchange Group poached the chemicals company's chief financial officer, Anna Manz.
Manz departs after close to four years, stepping down November 20 - the day after Johnson Matthey's interim results publication. The search for her successor has begun.
At stock exchange and clearing operator LSEG, Manz replaces outgoing CFO David Warren starting November 21. She will report to LSEG Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer.
LSEG shares were up 1.8%.
In the FTSE 250, Royal Mail slumped 9.1% after reporting a slump in full-year profit and plans to cut 2,000 management jobs and saying it is targeting the restart of dividends only in the 2022 financial year.
Revenue for the financial year that ended in March was GBP10.84 billion, up 2.5% from GBP10.58 billion the year before, which comprised 53 weeks. However, pretax profit dropped to GBP180 million from GBP241 million as operating costs rose 3.7% to GBP10.62 billion.
To save costs, Royal Mail is to cut around 2,000 UK management roles, which is expected to deliver an annual operating profit benefit in the 2022 financial year of GBP330 million.
The year's dividend per share of 7.5 pence reflects the board's decision not to recommend a final dividend, against a total payout of 25p the year before. Royal Mail does not expect to pay a dividend in the financial year ahead, but it is targeting the restart of payouts in the 2022 financial year.
Capita fell 7.6%. The outsourcer expects first-half revenue hits almost across the board, as the London-based outsourcer suffers the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Capita, which on Friday said it plans to offload its Education Software Solutions unit, said interim revenue is expected to be 10% lower annually, with 5% of that fall attributed to Covid-19. In the six months to June 30, 2019, Capita reported revenue of GBP1.84 billion.
This year, its first-quarter trading "was broadly in line with expectations", Capita noted. It was in late March that the Covid-19 pandemic began to grip European markets.
Low-cost airline easyJet said it has raised GBP419 million through a placing, the proceeds of which will go towards enhancing the group's liquidity position and strengthening its balance sheet.
easyJet will issue 59.5 million shares at a price of 703 pence per share, which reflects a 5% discount to the carrier's closing price of 740 pence on Wednesday.
The airline stock tumbled 6.5% to 691.80p Thursday midday.
Late Wednesday, easyJet reported a widened pretax loss of GBP353 million for the six months to the end of March, compared to GBP272 million a year before, on revenue that grew by 1.6% to GBP2.38 billion.
The economic events calendar on Thursday has first-quarter US GDP, jobless claims, and personal consumption expenditure figures at 1330 BST.
Initial jobless claims are seen at 1.3 million for the week to June 20, according to FXStreet consensus
"So ANOTHER 1-million plus number at a time when we are supposedly in recovery mode," commented Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank, ahead of the jobless claims print.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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