Stocks were trading lower at the start of the new week, amid growing concern that draconian lockdowns being imposed by the Chinese government to combat Covid-19 are hobbling the world's second-largest economy.
The FTSE 100 index was down 26.05 points, or 0.4%, at 7,361.89 early Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 194.70 points, or 1.0%, at 19,624.97. The AIM All-Share index was down 5.58 points, or 0.6%, at 971.84.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.6% at 733.60. The Cboe 250 was down 1.1% at 17,330.15, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.1% at 14,820.95.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was down 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.1% higher.
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 2.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended a see-saw session 0.1% higher. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended down 1.2%. The Hong Kong market was closed for a holiday on Monday.
China's export growth slumped in April to its slowest pace in almost two years, customs data showed Monday, as a Covid resurgence shuttered factories, prompted transport curbs, and caused congestion at key ports.
Export growth plunged to 3.9% year-on-year last month, the Customs Administration said Monday. While this was above analysts' expectations of 2.7% growth according to a Bloomberg poll, it marked the lowest rate since June 2020.
Import were flat in April, an improvement from a 0.1% contraction in March, as Chinese consumers remain hesitant under a welter of pandemic restrictions across the country.
Brent oil was quoted at $111.16 a barrel Monday morning, lower from $112.74 late Friday. Gold stood at $1,868.20 an ounce, lower against $1,886.77.
The soft commodity prices were hurting London's big listed miners. Anglo American was 2.4% lower, Rio Tinto was down 2.3%, Glencore 1.8% and Fresnillo 1.6%.
However, it was Rightmove that was the worst performer in the blue-chip index, shedding 4.9%, after Chief Executive Peter Brooks-Johnson announced he will step down as head of the online property portal.
He will remain in the role through to the announcement of the company's full-year results in February 2023. Brooks-Johnson has been with the company for 16 years, being appointed as chief operating officer in 2013 then CEO in 2017, but said he is leaving to ‘seek a new challenge’.
Rightmove said it has started a ‘comprehensive process’ to find his replacement.
‘The company continues to make good progress with the implementation of its strategy, and trading in the year to date has been as expected. The board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged,’ it reassured.
Shore Capital's Roddy Davidson commented: ‘Whilst any change of CEO can lead to a degree of uncertainty, Rightmove has successfully met this challenge twice since it joined the public market. The duration of the transition period highlighted above is also a source of reassurance. On previous occasions the successful candidate has come from within the business, although it sounds like a broad search will be undertaken this time round.’
In the FTSE 250, Energean was up 3.1% after it made a commercial gas discovery at its Athena exploration well, offshore Israel.
Energean owns 100% of the well. It noted a gross hydrocarbon column of 156 metres was encountered in the primary target, with indications it holds recoverable gas volumes of 8 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
Chief Executive Mathios Rigas said: ‘We are delighted to announce this new gas discovery at Athena and the potential of the wider Olympus area. We are considering a range of strategic commercialisation options both for a standalone and wider Olympus area development, including domestic and multiple export routes.’
At the other end of the midcaps, Victrex was down 3.8%. The speciality chemicals firm reported a drop in profit in the first half of its financial year but did see a bounce in sales in what it called a ‘strong’ performance.
In the six months that ended March 31, pretax profit slipped 6% to £43.6 million from £46.6 million in the same period a year prior. Victrex blamed the drop on a £4.6 million exceptional item cost relating to a one-off software implementation expense.
‘The company has commenced a multi-year implementation of a new cloud-based [enterprise resource planning] system. The company forecasts to spend approximately £17 million on the implementation, which will deliver benefits to both customer interactions and internal business processes,’ Victrex explained.
Revenue was up 6% to £160.1 million from £150.9 million. Sales volume increased 8% to 2,264 tonnes from 2,087 tonnes.
Chief Executive Jakob Sigurdsson said: ‘This is a strong first half, with further improvement across all end-markets, good progress in our Medical business as elective surgeries return in greater numbers and improved average selling prices compared to the second half of 2021.’
Property investor Shaftesbury was 1.9% lower after it confirmed it is in advanced talks over a potential all-share merger with London and Johannesburg-listed Capital & Counties Properties.
Capco was down 3.5%.
The merger would create a real estate investment trust focused in the West End of London, holding a combined portfolio of 2.9 million square feet of lettable space located in Covent Garden and Chinatown.
Under the merger's terms, shareholders in Shaftesbury excluding Capco will own 53% of the combined firm, while Capco's own shareholders will have a 47% interest. Capco currently holds a 25% stake in Shaftesbury.
The pound was quoted at $1.2269 early Monday, down from $1.2355 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at $1.0514, lower against $1.0576. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥131.23, up from JP¥130.34.
A quiet economic calendar on Monday has eurozone Sentix investor confidence is at 0930 BST.
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