UK stocks saw declines accelerate through the afternoon session to close sharply lower on Wednesday while investors also had to mull Deliveroo’s (ROO) IPO car crash.
The fast food delivery app saw its stock fall by more than 26% from its 390p IPO listing price, wiping nearly £2 billion off its valuation and burning thousands of retail investors along the way. The stock closed at 287.45p.
That slump had no effect on London’s leading indices since Deliveroo is excluded from them, but the benchmark FTSE 100 closed almost a full percentage point down at 6,713.63 as investors weighed up rising bond yields, and what they say about inflation and interest rate risks.
Financials, industrials and resources sectors bore the brunt of the selling. The mid-cap FTSE 250 ended the day 0.26% off at 21,518.71.
Attention had turned to Wall Street by the end of the UK trading session with New York’s major indices all firmer, led by a strong Nasdaq Composite as tech stocks staged a rally.
OPEC is set to meet with other major producers to discuss output levels after cutting its forecasts for oil demand, while more detail may emerge about the scale of bank losses from the Archegos blow-up. US President Joe Biden is also due to make a speech about infrastructure, something that is likely to be closely watched for investment commitment clues.
BIG CHANGES AT GOLD MINER
Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk (POG) slipped 1% to 23.85p after forecasting a fall in annual production and said it was undertaking a sweeping review of its business to cut costs.
Logistics group Wincanton (WIN) rallied close on 5% to 389p on the news full-year results are expected to be above market expectations with underlying revenue on track to rise by 15% higher in the fourth quarter.
Elsewhere, pubs and hotels business Fuller, Smith & Turner (FSTA) dropped 1% to 860p after it launched a £53.6 million equity raising as it eyes a reopening of its sites next month.
New shares in Fuller, Smith & Turner are being offered at 830p, a 4.6% discount to yesterday’s closing price.
SMALLCAP & AIM WRAP
Home improvement retailer Topps Tiles (TPT) reversed earlier losses to rise 0.3% to 69.2p on news of a 17.3% decline in second quarter like-for-like sales caused by the third national lockdown, although this followed a very strong first quarter in which like-for-like sales shot up by 19.9%.
Video game developer Sumo (SUMO:AIM) slumped more than 3% to 351p as it booked a fall in annual profit due to various expenses, including acquisition costs and share-based payments to executives.
However, Sumo’s adjusted gross profit rose 26% on a 41% jump in sales amid a surge in demand during lockdowns.
Exchange services group Aquis Exchange (AQX:AIM) rallied 4% to 610p as investors applauded a maiden annual profit as revenue surged thanks to very strong growth from higher trading levels in the equities trading division.
Direct-to-consumer ready meals provider Parsley Box (MEAL:AIM) fell 7% to 185p in debut AIM dealings, having priced its IPO at 200p for a starting market tag of around £84 million.
And alternative broadband services provider Bigblu Broadband (BBB:AIM) fell 3% to 104p after it swung to a loss as higher costs offset a modest climb in revenue.
