London’s FTSE 100 ended Friday’s session in the red as a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Europe, a growing number of outbreaks in the UK and a warning from Michel Barnier that a UK-EU Brexit trade deal ‘seems unlikely’ weighed on sentiment.
These negatives overshadowed the UK’s better than expected retail sales figures for July, while the FTSE may have fared worse but for a drop in sterling which favoured the overseas earners in the index.
At the close of play, the FTSE finished 11.45 points lower, or 0.19% down, at 6,001.89.
LARGE AND MID CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Budget airlines gained after the UK Government added Portugal to its list of travel corridors. EasyJet (EZJ) rose 3.5% to 573.8p with rival Ryanair (RYA) improving 2.9% to €11.45, while tour operator TUI (TUI) ticked up 4.8% to 308.2p.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) shed 1.3% to £84.37, even as its drug to treat patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer gained approval in Japan.
Investment company HG Capital Trust (HGT) climbed 8.8% to 272.5p on announcing that it would pour about £17.1 million into Norwegian enterprise software company Visma.
SMALL CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Disease test-kit supplier Omega Diagnostics (ODX:AIM) rose 1.7% to 59p, having received World Health Organisation pre-qualification for its Visitect CD4 test for HIV.
Logistics group Eddie Stobart (ESL:AIM) jumped 6.6% to 8.1p on news that it had secured a three-year contract from supermarket group Morrisons (MRW) to provide transportation services from two distribution centres.
Alternative energy company Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE:AIM) surged 49% higher to 26.5p after it agreed to source £170 million of debt from South Korea’s Hana Financial Investment.
The debt would fund the first phase of the company’s Uskmouth project in Wales, which would convert a coal-fired power plant into one fed by waste-derived fuel pellets.
Engineering company 600 Group (SIXH:AIM) was unchanged at 8p, despite the welcome news its order book had begun to recover after lockdowns eased.
The company also secured a £1.2 million loan backed by the UK government via HSBC to help it weather the pandemic.
Cleaning products group Tristel (TSTL:AIM) ticked up 4.2% to 495p after its Duo disinfectants were approved for the decontamination of semi-critical medical devices by authorities in India.
RNA therapeutics developer Silence Therapeutics (SLN:AIM) skipped 3% higher to 475p on announcing that it had filed for a proposed listing of American depositary shares on the Nasdaq.
Oncology, inflammation and infectious diseases focused Tiziana Life Sciences (TILS:AIM) ended 4.5% lower at 150p, having been granted a patent in the US related to its Milciclib treatment for cancer.
Superyacht maintenance company GYG (GYG:AIM) gained 2.6% to 79.5p on guiding for higher core first-half earnings, as margin improvements through restructuring offset a fall in revenue.
