London shares tumble on fears over new strain of coronavirus By Reuters

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) – UK midcap stocks suffered their worst day in 3 months on Monday, as tighter restrictions to combat a rapidly spreading new strain of coronavirus prompted travel bans, concerns over food shortages and greater financial pain.

Nationwide focused fell 2% as the latest development of the pandemic added to investor concerns, with no Brexit trade deal in sight and only 10 days left until a transition period expires.

“A contraction in the fourth quarter was already looking likely and this could now extend into the new year if the lockdown continues,” said Rupert Thompson, chief investment officer at Kingswood.

Several nations closed their borders to Britain, causing a 1.7% drop despite the sharp drop in the pound. [GBP/]

BP (LON 🙂 and Royal Dutch Shell (LON 🙂 weighed the most in the index, with Shell also taking a hit after it said it would reduce the value of its oil and gas assets by $ 3.5 billion to $ 4.5. billion. [O/R]

Travel and leisure stocks, including IAG (LON :), British Airways owner easyJet (LON 🙂 and InterContinental Hotels Group, fell between 1% and 8% after countries cut transportation ties with Great Britain.

“The key to turning the current relatively modest correction into something more serious will be whether the launch of the vaccine progresses smoothly and whether the vaccines are just as effective against this new, more infectious mutation,” Thompson said.

Although the FTSE 100 has recovered dramatically since the beginning of November, the index is headed for the worst year since the 2008 global financial crisis as lockdowns driven by the pandemic hit the economy and led to massive layoffs.

The home stay winner Ocado (LON 🙂 Group jumped by about 6% while precious metal miners Fresnillo (LON 🙂 added 1.6% as safe haven demand pushed up gold prices.