Commodity stocks push FTSE 100 lower; Whitbread shines

Tue, 25th Apr 2023 17:33

Whitbread tops FTSE 100 on dividend hike

Associated British Foods drops on profit fall

Travis Perkins falls on weak demand outlook

FTSE 100 down 0.3%, FTSE 250 off 0.1%

April 25 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 closed down on Tuesday, logging its worst performance in April as commodity-linked stocks were a drag, while investors swarmed shares of Whitbread after it raised its dividend.

The Premier Inn owner rose 4.3% and hit over a one-year high after it more than doubled its annual dividend from a year ago, and said it expected strong demand during the weekend of King Charles' coronation.

"The biggest impact (of the coronation) is going to be from tourism," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

"Premier Inn with its huge variety of locations is in a really good position to grab a huge chunk of that business."

The travel and leisure sector housing the stock added 0.8%, hitting its highest levels in over a year.

However, the blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% weighed down by a 3.3% drop in industrial miners as copper prices fell.

Energy firms shed 1.2% as crude oil futures slid below 2%.

Bucking the trend, shares of healthcare stocks and utilities gained as the pound declined.

The FTSE 100 started the week on a tepid note, with markets in a wait-and-see mode to assess the impact of monetary tightening on company earnings.

In recent weeks, investors have been flocking towards recession-insured sectors like healthcare and utilities and cyclicals such as commodity-linked sectors have largely underperformed.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.1%, with shares of Travis Perkins down 2.8% on a weak new house building forecast.

Associated British Foods lost 4.2% following a fall in first-half profit, and cautioned on the resilience of consumer spending amid inflation.

Anglo American reported upbeat quarterly production numbers. However, its shares were down with the broader sector.

Meanwhile, data showed Britain recorded a bigger-than-expected budget deficit of 21.53 billion pounds ($26.87 billion) in March. (Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Jonathan Oatis)