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March 30 (Reuters) - UK shares slipped on Monday after last
week's bold bounce back as another wave of stimulus measures
failed to calm investors worried by the possibility of a
prolonged coronavirus-led shutdown in Britain.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.8% by 0812 GMT, after
posting its first weekly gain in seven weeks.
China's central bank unexpectedly cut the rate on reverse
repurchase agreements by 20 basis points, the largest in nearly
five years, in a bid to relieve pressure on an economy ravaged
by the pandemic.
Oil majors BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc
fell more than 2.5% as oil prices tumbled on fears about the
economic hit from the pandemic as well as a price war between
Russia and Saudi Arabia.
A senior medical officer said the lockdown in Britain could
last months and only be gradually lifted, raising fears of a
deep slump in the economy.
Engineering company Rolls-Royce dropped 8.4% to the
bottom of FTSE 100, while low-cost airline easyJet fell
2.6% after saying it had grounded its entire fleet and
furloughed cabin crew employees for two months under a
government job retention scheme.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)
