LONDON, May 22 ― London's FTSE 100 ended lower yesterday as optimism faded about any speedy recovery from the coronavirus-induced economic slump, while US-China trade tensions returned firmly to the forefront of investors' minds.
The export-heavy FTSE 100 slipped 0.9 per cent, taking the shine off strong gains earlier in the week. However, the mid-cap FTSE 250 narrowly extended gains to a fifth day with a 0.1 per cent rise.
Grim economic data continued to pour in; the UK economy shrank again in May, but at a slower pace than April, a survey by IHS Markit showed.
Risk appetite was also hindered by rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called China's US$2 billion (RM8.7 billion) pledge to fight the pandemic “paltry”.
“The questioning around globalisation is going to come to the fore again, simply because now we're seeing this escalation in the trade war again,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp.
Banks, oil and gas and miners were the biggest decliners among sector indices.
After rallying about 23 per cent since late March on a raft of global stimulus and, more recently, the easing of Covid-19 lockdowns, the FTSE 100 is now about 22 per cent below its January record high.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread Plc sank 13.4 per cent to a two-month low after it said it would seek £1.01 billion in fresh cash from shareholders to help weather the Covid-19 crisis.
Car dealer Inchcape Plc fell 7.7 per cent as it posted a slump in April revenue and said the global economic impact of the lockdowns would be felt until 2021.
British low-cost airline easyJet climbed 4.4 per cent as it said it would restart a small number of flights on June 15. ― Reuters
