London’s FTSE traded 0.46% lower at 6,095.49 on Monday, led down by airlines after the UK imposed a two-week quarantine requirement on travellers from Spain.
Sentiment was also dulled by mounting COVID-19 cases in the US and in places that had looked to have the virus under control, including Hong Kong and Australia.
Gold soared to an all-time high as worsening diplomatic ties between China and the United States rattled investors and fired up demand for the safe-haven metal.
Ryanair (RYA) cheapened 7.5% to €10 after the budget airline posted a first-quarter loss, albeit narrower than expected, after it was forced to ground most of its fleet due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The low-cost carrier said the past quarter was the most challenging in its 35-year history and warned that the remainder of the year will be challenging, too. ‘It is impossible to predict how long the COVID-19 pandemic will persist, and a second wave of COVID-19 cases across Europe in late autumn, when the annual flu season commences, is our biggest fear right now.’
EasyJet (EZJ) tumbled 11% to 524.3p, British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) dropped 9% to 181p and Anglo-German holiday giant TUI (TUI) slumped 13.4% to 294.1p.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) softened 3p to £86.49 despite news that its chronic leukaemia and lung cancer treatments have received marketing authorisation in the European Union.
AstraZeneca also announced that it had entered into a new global development and commercialisation agreement with Daiichi Sankyo for DS-1062, Daiichi Sankyo’s antibody drug conjugate and potential new medicine for the treatment of multiple tumour types.
Oil and gas producer Cairn Energy (CNE) rose 6.9% to 133.1p on news it will sell its Senegal interests to Russia’s Lukoil for up to $400 million (£311.3 million) and intends to return at least $250 million as a special dividend after the sale completes.
Also in demand was Kainos (KNOS), the IT services provider powering 16% higher to 960.5p on the news results for the year to March 2021 are expected to smash market expectations and that it will pay a special dividend of 6.7p in lieu of a final dividend.
‘The resilience in our business has been driven by our long-term relationships with our customers, by on-going demand within the NHS, Public Sector and Workday segments and by our diversification of revenues across customers, end markets and geographic regions,’ Kainos enthused.
Morgan Sindall (MGNS) was marked up 2.6% to £11.04 after the construction and regeneration group said its urban regeneration division had agreed deals to commence the first phase of a £185 million scheme in Manchester’s city centre.
‘We are pleased to have agreed our second major forward funded deal in recent weeks, which further reinforces our regeneration strategy,’ said chief executive John Morgan.
City Pub (CPC:AIM) improved 3.6% to 72p on news it traded profitably in its first three weeks after opening, but revenues were just 63% of the equivalent period last year.
The pub operator, which has reopened 32 of its 48 pubs since July 4, said it intends to reopen all of its pubs in the next two months, or earlier if social distancing measures are eased further.
Bilby (BILB:AIM) bounced 14.3% higher to 20p after the gas, electrical and building services provider swung to a profit for the year to March as cost cuts offset a fall in revenue, and said it had demonstrated its resilience in the first quarter of the new financial year despite the impact of COVID-19.
