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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mostly lower on Friday as hopes of quickly finding a treatment for coronavirus, which has spurred most of the week's gains, were dashed.
Gilead Sciences on Thursday insisted trial results for remdesivir as a possible coronavirus treatment were "inconclusive" and trends in the data suggest a "potential benefit".
On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that a trial showed Gilead's remdesivir did not improve patients' condition or reduce the pathogen's presence in the bloodstream. The drug also showed significant side effects in some, which meant 18 patients were taken off it.
Gilead's stock was down 1.3% in New York.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 74.38 points, or 1.3%, at 5,752.23, but ended the week up 2.2%.
The FTSE 250 ended down 106.61 points, or 0.7%, at 15,687.43, ending the week up 2.3%, while the AIM All-Share closed up 6.88 points, or 0.9%, at 782.15, ending the week up 5.1%.
The Cboe UK 100 ended down 1.2% at 9,732.30.35, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.5% at 13,577.61, and the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 8,819.80.
In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 1.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 1.7%.
"Stocks markets are in the red as traders are a little downbeat on account of the lack of progress in relation to an EU rescue package, as well as the disappointing results for a potential Covid-19 treatment. European leaders are divided about the size of the financial package. There are even deeper divisions over what portion of the scheme will be grants, and what portion will be loans. Broadly speaking, southern European economies are calling for grants, while the northern members are keen on loans. The lingering division is hanging over sentiment," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
On the London Stock Exchange, housebuilders ended among the blue-chip risers in what was a positive week for companies in the sector.
Taylor Wimpey closed up 2.5%, Berkeley up 1.0%, Barratt Developments up 0.7%, but Persimmon ended down 0.1%.
Persimmon said it will begin a phased re-opening of its construction sites, starting Monday, following similar announcements made by Taylor Wimpey and Vistry Group on Thursday.
The York-based firm said it has achieved about 820 gross private sales in the five weeks to April 19, as its sales staff continues to work from home.
Persimmon has not made use of the UK government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough staff and has no current plans to access any of the government's Covid-19 funding programmes and continues to pay all taxes.
"Housebuilders and other construction names have risen in London today as Persimmon announced plans to resume work in early May. Such signs of normality returning will be a key pillar of the government’s strategy, bolstering consumer confidence, although any measures will be quickly rescinded if it looks like the outbreak is returning. Given the broad pressure on consumer incomes it will still be a while before the housing market sees significant upward pressure on prices," said IG Group's Chris Beauchamp.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2333 at the London equities close, down from USD1.2391 at the close Thursday.
Sterling fell to an intraday low of USD1.2299 in the wake of disappointing UK retail sales figures released Friday morning.
The Office for National Statistics said Friday that total sales volumes dived 5.1% month-on-month as many stores shut their doors in the face of the coronavirus. On an annual basis, retail sales were down 5.8% against market expectations of a 4.7% drop.
The ONS added that clothing store sales saw a particularly sharp fall when compared with February, moving 35% lower.
Meanwhile, the UK's health ministry on Friday said that 684 more people had died after testing positive for Covid-19 in hospital, taking the death toll to 19,506.
The figure, for the 24-hour period to 1700 BST on Thursday, is more than the 616 reported the previous day and comes after the government claimed the virus had hit its peak.
In addition, Chris Whitty, the UK chief medical officer has warned that some of the stringent social distancing measures could last for the rest of the year until a vaccine is found.
The euro stood at USD1.0801 at the European equities close, down from USD1.0835 late Thursday, after a European Union meeting on Thursday to build a trillion-euro emergency fund disappointed investors.
EU leaders tasked the European Commission with drawing up a recovery plan for the looming recession after talks hailed as a step forward on Thursday, though others warned that difficult negotiations lie ahead.
The package of financial stimulus is expected to total at least EUR1 trillion, but virtually all details remain unresolved. The recovery fund is to be anchored within the next EU long-term budget, commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the EU video summit.
"The caveat today is that the EU was never in the business of being the hare in any race. Tortoises make decisions much faster than the EU leaders do, and there are reasons for some optimism that, even if we don't get as joined-up a response as we'd like overall, the European fiscal response to this crisis may yet end up being sizeable," commented Societe Generale's Kit Juckes.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY107.45, marginally lower from JPY107.60 late Thursday.
Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close on optimism from the approval of a USD484 billion extension of coronavirus relief by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The DJIA was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.
On the US corporate front, American Express said it has set aside USD2.6 billion to help absorb losses caused by the coronavirus crisis, as the credit card provider reported a sharp drop in earnings.
For the first quarter to March 31, net income fell 76% to USD367 million from USD1.55 billion in the first quarter last year. Revenue for the period came in at USD10.31 billion, down from USD10.36 billion.
The stock was down 0.5% on Wall Street.
US mobile operator Verizon Communications on Friday reported a 17% drop in first quarter net income and lowered its earnings per share growth expectations based on the "unprecedented magnitude of current conditions".
The company recorded net income of USD4.29 billion for the three months to March-end, down 17% from USD5.16 billion a year ago.
The stock was down 0.6% in New York.
Brent oil was quoted at USD21.15 a barrel at the equities close, down from USD22.78 at the close Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,721.60 an ounce at the London close, lower against USD1,737.15 late Thursday.
The UK corporate calendar on Monday has annual results from Spaceandpeople and CentralNic.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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