(Sharecast News) - London stocks slid in early trade on Thursday amid worries about the Covid-19 pandemic, with most of England now in Tier 4, while a firmer pound also weighed on the top-flight index.
At 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 1.5% at 6,456.40, with sterling up 0.3% against the dollar at 1.3669, hitting its best level since May 2018, having rallied sharply on Wednesday after British lawmakers approved the Brexit trade deal.
On the final day of a year most of us would rather forget, dominated by the pandemic, restrictions and seemingly endless Brexit shenanigans, the FTSE 100 was on track for its worst yearly performance since 2008.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: '"The UK stock market has begun the last session of 2020 with more of a whimper rather than a bang, with the FTSE 100 falling sharply as trading began.
"The pound has strengthened again, now that the long awaited Brexit deal has passed into law, adding to gains yesterday following the AstraZeneca vaccine approval.
"That's led to a weaker performance by globally facing firms which make revenues in dollars, such as miners Rio Tinto and Antofagasta as well as energy giants BP and Shell.
"But there is also nervousness among investors that even though a no-deal Brexit has been avoided there is going to be plenty of bumps in the road as a new trading relationship with the EU is established.
"Worrying spikes in infection rates in the UK, and the fresh emergency rules coming into force have plunged more than three quarters of the country into tier 4 restrictions from today. That is adding to concern that the first few months of 2021 are going to be tough not just socially but financially, with vast swathes of the economy mothballed."
In equity markets, British owner IAG and InterContinental Hotels were both lower as optimism over vaccines and potentially brighter prospects for the travel and leisure sector faded.
Meanwhile, exporters such as Diageo and Johnson Matthey were hit by the firmer pound.
On the upside, transport operator FirstGroup gained after saying it had sold three North American properties in its Greyhound bus operation for $137m (£102m) as it rationalises its portfolio.
Outside the FTSE 350, Countrywide surged after accepting a sweetened takeover offer from Connells.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,456.40 -1.52%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,520.33 -0.94%
techMARK (TASX) 4,068.07 -1.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,560.00p 0.99%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 859.80p 0.44%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,302.00p 0.36%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,138.50p 0.26%
Ferguson (FERG) 8,912.00p 0.25%
Kingfisher (KGF) 272.00p 0.07%
Next (NXT) 7,166.00p 0.03%
Avast (AVST) 530.00p 0.00%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 677.00p -0.12%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,482.00p -0.16%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 161.75p -3.35%
Diageo (DGE) 2,904.00p -2.91%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,437.00p -2.87%
Informa (INF) 542.20p -2.66%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,501.00p -2.63%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,510.50p -2.52%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 174.65p -2.43%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 673.60p -2.33%
British Land Company (BLND) 490.00p -2.23%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,244.00p -2.22%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Helios Towers (HTWS) 155.00p 3.33%
FirstGroup (FGP) 76.00p 2.70%
Provident Financial (PFG) 320.80p 2.23%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 31.20p 1.96%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 125.65p 1.58%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 201.50p 1.26%
BMO Global Smaller Companies (BGSC) 145.00p 1.12%
Trainline (TRN) 469.00p 1.08%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 378.00p 0.80%
Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE) 272.50p 0.74%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,235.00p -5.36%
Hammerson (HMSO) 25.18p -4.73%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,825.00p -3.58%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 214.50p -3.38%
Edinburgh Inv Trust (EDIN) 535.00p -3.25%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,575.00p -2.83%
Workspace Group (WKP) 756.00p -2.77%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 675.00p -2.74%
AJ Bell (AJB) 450.50p -2.59%
ITV (ITV) 105.75p -2.58%