London open: Stocks fall amid China Covid woes; miners hit

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Monday, with miners pacing the decline amid worries about growing Covid cases in China. At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,351.29.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Financial markets have caught a cold amid worries that mounting Covid cases in China and a fresh tightening of restrictions will send a fresh shiver through manufacturing output and push down demand for raw materials.

"Outbreaks across the country clustering in mega cities like Beijing and Guangzhou are dashing hopes of an easing of the strict zero Covid policy. Oil has continued to march downwards, with Brent crude scuttling to around $87 dollars a barrel, after the 10% fall last week. The worsening situation is coming at a time of fears of flu outbreaks, which is putting fresh pressure on commodity stocks, with mining companies feeling more pain in trading today."

In equity markets, miners - which are heavily dependent on demand from China - were the worst performers on the FTSE 100, with Glencore, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto all down.

Elsewhere, catering group Compass slumped even as it hiked its dividend and reported a rise in full-year underlying operating profit and revenues, hailing record net new business.

On the upside, Virgin Money rallied as it reported a strong rise in full-year profits driven by higher interest rates. The bank said pre-tax profit surged 43% to £595m. It also posted impairment losses of £52m, compared with a £131m credit a year ago.

Diploma was also on the front foot as it posted a jump in full-year profits and revenues.

Endeavour Mining gained after saying it had made a major discovery at its 100%-owned Tanda-Iguela greenfield exploration property in Côte d'Ivoire.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,351.29 -0.46% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,199.69 -0.43% techMARK (TASX) 4,354.73 -0.22%

FTSE 100 - Risers

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 404.20p 1.58% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,935.00p 1.21% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,659.00p 1.16% BAE Systems (BA.) 775.80p 0.73% RS Group (RS1) 958.00p 0.68% Centrica (CNA) 93.56p 0.60% F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 920.00p 0.55% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,978.00p 0.53% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,836.00p 0.41% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 259.10p 0.39%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Compass Group (CPG) 1,774.50p -4.11% Harbour Energy (HBR) 314.90p -3.82% Glencore (GLEN) 493.35p -2.46% Ocado Group (OCDO) 661.60p -2.45% Anglo American (AAL) 3,089.00p -2.26% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,293.50p -2.23% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,278.00p -1.99% Prudential (PRU) 959.60p -1.94% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 83.93p -1.82% Halma (HLMA) 2,185.00p -1.80%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 163.20p 12.09% Chemring Group (CHG) 305.00p 3.39% Diploma (DPLM) 2,878.00p 2.79% BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (BRSC) 1,390.00p 1.76% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 81.90p 1.74% Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 444.50p 1.48% NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 112.60p 1.44% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,609.00p 1.39% HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 166.60p 1.34% Beazley (BEZ) 631.00p 1.28%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

International Distributions Services (IDS) 239.70p -4.99% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 127.00p -3.57% Quilter (QLT) 101.50p -3.29% Molten Ventures (GROW) 435.80p -3.16% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 204.60p -3.03% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,178.00p -3.03% Shaftesbury (SHB) 380.20p -2.96% Great Portland Estates (GPE) 526.00p -2.68% Bodycote (BOY) 581.50p -2.68% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 95.95p -2.64%