Thursday 08 July 2021 4:19 pm

FTSE 100 plummets as just two stocks register gains

Just four companies left the junior market due to financial distress over the last year

London’s FTSE 100 slid in afternoon trading on Thursday, with just two stocks in the entire index notching gains.

The capital’s premier index fell sharply this afternoon, down 2.24 per cent, the highest fall for three weeks.

The fall was driven by sentiment among investors souring on fears that the current surge in Covid cases and rising inflation could dampen the global economic recovery from the pandemic.

Heavyweight financials and miners registered the day’s biggest losses. These companies are cyclical stocks, meaning they are more exposed to economic disruption.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 tumbled 1.54 per cent in the afternoon session, while AIM were down 1.47 per cent.

The pound was flat against the greenback to buy $1.38.

Winners and losers

Chemicals company Croda International was the day’s best performer, up marginally by 0.74 per cent.

Aerospace giant BAE Systems came second, adding 0.34 per cent. Bookmaker Entain came third.

Intermediate Capital was the day’s worst performer, sliding 5.6 per cent.

Housebuilder Persimmon came second after it posted a poor set of results, losing 5.51 per cent. Miner Anglo American came third, down 5.1 per cent.

Across the globe

The poor performance in London was extended across the pond, with all US benchmarks registering losses during the open.

The blue-chip S&P 500 lost 1.19 per cent, the Dow Jones fell 1.13 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.3 per cent.

The falls come as fears China’s crackdown on foreign listings could intensify after US shareholders sued the company. China ordered ride-hailing app Didi to be taken off local online stores the day before its US market debut.

Asian shares were also down sharply, with Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng losing 0.88 per cent and 2.89 per cent respectively.

Europ’s Stoxx 600 also notched severe losses, down 2.15 per cent.