London open: Stocks fall on weak Asian cues; IAG flies lower after results

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Friday, taking their cue from a weak session in Asia.
At 0900 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at 7,012.74

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson noted that the Asian session saw stocks slide despite reports suggesting that Chinese regulators were softening their positioning on regulation of the tech sector, over concerns about the extent of the recent sell-off.

"If that was the intention of the softening of position it doesn't appear to be working," he said. "The reality is that the recent crackdown by China has let the genie out of the bottle, and confidence appears to have shifted.

"Ultimately no-one will risk putting money back into markets until regulators in China put some meat on the bones, and for the moment that's all that they have. The damage to confidence with respect to recent events may already have been done."

In equity markets, miners were the worst performers, with Rio, Glencore and Anglo all under the cosh. Glencore fell despite lifting its 2021 EBIT expectations to the top end of its guidance.

Inspection, product testing and certification group Intertek was the worst performer on the top-flight index even as it reported a rise in half-year profits.

British Airways and Iberia parent IAG flew lower as it posted a narrowing of its first-half operating losses and said capacity was set to grow, but struck a cautious note on the outlook due to Covid uncertainty.

NatWest lost ground even as it resumed dividend payments, announced a share buyback and said it swung to a half-year profit.

Babcock tumbled after the defence company said full-year losses widened as it was hit by a £2bn impairment charge.

On the upside, Smith & Nephew rallied, having slumped on Thursday after its half-year results.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,012.74 -0.93%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,888.40 -0.70%
techMARK (TASX) 4,453.42 -0.34%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,480.00p 1.06%
Sage Group (SGE) 696.20p 0.52%
BAE Systems (BA.) 574.40p 0.28%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,561.50p 0.26%
Pearson (PSON) 845.40p 0.19%
BT Group (BT.A) 172.15p 0.15%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,112.00p 0.12%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 709.00p 0.11%
Fresnillo (FRES) 821.40p 0.10%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.24p 0.09%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,126.00p -8.53%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 175.76p -3.24%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,086.00p -3.18%
Glencore (GLEN) 320.00p -2.87%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,202.50p -2.75%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,743.50p -2.60%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,303.00p -2.47%
Evraz (EVR) 612.60p -2.36%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,200.00p -2.35%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,573.50p -2.33%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Indivior (INDV) 167.50p 5.68%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 229.00p 3.15%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 85.65p 2.39%
National Express Group (NEX) 270.80p 2.03%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 204.50p 0.99%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 248.80p 0.89%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 118.60p 0.85%
Elementis (ELM) 142.90p 0.85%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 208.00p 0.73%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,436.00p 0.63%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Babcock International Group (BAB) 275.30p -9.65%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 267.40p -7.67%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 467.40p -4.61%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 340.10p -3.44%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 457.60p -3.17%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 249.90p -3.03%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,760.00p -2.64%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 214.50p -2.59%
Carnival (CCL) 1,473.20p -2.54%
Trainline (TRN) 335.00p -2.45%