- Defensives hold up in sell-off
- New appetite for growth stocks
- Banks unable to shake off losses
As the dust settles from the three-day ‘Liberation Day’-inspired sell-off, the list of winners and losers makes for interesting reading.
Not everything which held up during the market meltdown is being sold off, and not everything which racked up big losses is rebounding, unlike in previous recoveries, suggesting investors are being more selective this time.
HOLDING FIRM
On the whole, ‘defensive’ stocks did their job during the three-day sell-off from last Wednesday (2 April) to this Monday (7 April), in particular consumer staples such as AG Barr (BAG) and Hilton Food (HFG) along with supermarket group Sainsbury’s (SBRY).
Capital preservation trust Ruffer (RICA) also did its job admirably, gaining while others floundered, but the best-performing FTSE 350 stock was electricals retailer Curry’s (CURY) which rallied on the back of a positive trading update and another upgrade to full-year guidance.
In contrast, luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland (WOSG) – which has spent heavily to increase its presence in the US – was one of the worst losers as investors assumed its business was directly in the firing line of the latest round of tariffs.
With oil prices tumbling on fears of a global recession, BP (BP.) and Harbour Energy (HBR) were among the worst-hit stocks, while big banks such as Barclays (BARC) and Standard Chartered (STAN) also suffered heavy losses, suggesting they aren’t seen as safe havens in spite of their strong balance sheets.
NOT YOUR TYPICAL REBOUND
Interestingly, banks showed no sign of recovering with Asia-focused Standard Chartered and HSBC (HSBA) losing further ground together with China- and Vietnam-focused investment trusts.
Instead, defence stocks, which had enjoyed a strong first quarter and so were subject to profit-taking over the three-day sell-off, showed their mettle by posting solid gains with Bae Systems (BA.), Rolls-Royce (RR.) and Babcock (BAB) the top three risers in the FTSE 100 by lunchtime.
‘Capital growth’ was back on the menu with stocks such as Molten Ventures (GROW) and Oxford Nanopore (ONT) among the top FTSE 250 risers, along with selected investment trusts such as Allianz Technology (ATT), Bellevue Healthcare (BBH), BlackRock World Mining (BRWM), Hg Capital (HGT) and Pantheon International (PIN).
