22nd Jun 2020 12:00
(Alliance News) -Â The FTSE 100 had recovered most of the morning's losses by midday on Monday, but stock trading remained tepid as markets eye Covid-19 infections in the US and China.
The FTSE 100 index was just 1.03 points lower at 6,291.57 by midday in London, having traded as low as 6,228.04 earlier in the session. The FTSE 250 was down 22.86 points, or 0.1%, at 17,664.40, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.4% at 894.12.
The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 10,641.75, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 15,157.40, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.4% at 9,850.67.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt both were down 0.2%.
Stock prices in Europe had recovered from their worst levels of the morning by midday, but fears of a second wave of Covid-19 infections ensured caution lingered.
The US recorded another 305 coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Sunday at 8:30pm.
It marked the 11th consecutive day in which the daily toll from the virus has been fewer than 1,000, and the third time the toll has been under 400 since the pandemic seemed to peak in mid-April.
However, some 20 states have seen a rebound in infections, as the epicentre of the country's outbreak has moved southwest from New York and the country's Northeast. There are fears of a second wave of Covid-19 infections following state re-openings and massive anti-racism protests around the country in recent weeks.
US President Donald Trump's first campaign rally since the coronavirus crisis, held Saturday night in Oklahoma, also was criticized as a potential Covid-19 "superspreader" event.
Meanwhile, China's capital reported 22 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday after a mass testing effort that has collected more than two million samples in a race to contain a new outbreak. The fresh cluster in Beijing has raised fears of a resurgence of the virus in China, which had largely brought the disease under control over recent months.
"Market sentiment remains uncertain towards risk assets as coronavirus fears continue to grow while volumes keep on decreasing as more and more traders tend to get away from their desk during the summer season," commented Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.
Safe-haven metal gold edged up to USD1,746.20 an ounce Monday midday from USD1,742.20 late Friday.
Despite all this, Wall Street is eyeing an upbeat start on Monday. The Dow Jones is called up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq also up 0.9%.
In the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has given the biggest hint yet that the two-metre social-distancing rule will be relaxed in England, saying the prime minister's review "will make an enormous difference" to businesses.
Boris Johnson will on Tuesday unveil his plan to reopen the hospitality sector from July 4, and announce the result of the review of the two-metre social-distancing rule.
Johnson will first meet with his most senior cabinet colleagues, Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty to discuss the review and the next phase of the recovery road map on Monday.
He is under pressure from leaders of the hospitality sector and his own MPs to lessen the two-metre rule, which aims to slow the spread of Covid-19, but places major constraints on businesses.
London-listed pub operators were higher on Monday as the prospect of reopening nears, with Marston's up 12%, JD Wetherspoon up 5.8% and Mitchells & Butlers up 5.3%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2392 midday Monday, higher than USD1.2368 at the London equities close on Friday.
The euro was trading at USD1.1217, firm against USD1.1204. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY106.88 in London, soft on JPY106.92 late Friday.
Brent oil was at USD42.06 a barrel, up from USD41.20 at the close Friday.
Back on the London Stock Exchange, Glencore was down 2.6%. The miner late Friday said it has been informed by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland it has opened a criminal investigation into Glencore International.
The miner said the Attorney General of Switzerland opened the investigation for failure to have the organizational measures in place to prevent alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo currently under investigation by the OAG. Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore said it would cooperate with the investigation by the OAG.
Glencore currently is facing corruption and bribery probes from the US Department of Justice, the UK Serious Fraud Office, as well as from authorities in Brazil.
JD Sports Fashion was down 2.2% after confirming it has filed to appoint administrators at its Go Outdoors unit.
The FTSE 100 firm said the notice means a 10-day moratorium has been implemented, so the outdoor apparel seller's creditors cannot take any legal action, nor continue with existing proceedings without court permission.
"Administrators have not yet been appointed, and the group will make no further comment at this time," JD Sports added.
Sky News late Saturday reported that JD Sports had called in administrators at the unit, which has a workforce of about 2,500.
FTSE 250-listed Capita surged 16% after late Friday saying it is set to sell its Education Software Solutions business as part of continuing efforts to slim down operations.
The London-based outsourcer said it plans to dispose of standalone software products that have little overlap or cross-sell with the rest of the group, such as ESS. No financial details over a potential sale were provided with the company saying it would make a further announcement in due course.
Earlier on Friday, Capita said it had agreed to sell Eclipse Hardware, which trades as Eclipse Legal Systems, to Access UK for GBP56.5 million. Eclipse is a software provider to the UK legal market.
The economic events calendar on Monday has eurozone consumer confidence data at 1500 BST.
By Lucy Heming;Â [email protected]
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