(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Thursday as investors took some profits following eight consecutive days of gains, amid a raft of corporate news and the latest UK GDP reading.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at 6,327.83, having rallied sharply earlier in the week on news that the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech had shown 90% efficacy.

Market commentators said doubts were creeping in about the practicalities of rolling out a vaccine.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Now that a couple of days have gone by and we've had more time to absorb the enormity of this week's announcement, we are now starting to hear some more discerning voices make their presence felt, in terms of the logistical difficulties involved in the distribution of this vaccine, as well as how effective the vaccine is likely to be on a longer-term basis."

Investors were also mulling over the latest GDP figures from the Office for National Statistics, which showed the UK economy grew by a record 15.5% in the third quarter as lockdown measures were eased, but slowed in September.

Although the quarterly growth reflects some recovery of activity following the record contraction seen in the second quarter, the economy is still 9.7% below where it was at the end of last year. Analysts had been expecting growth of 15.8% in Q3.

Between April and June, GDP contracted 19.8%.

Compared with the same quarter a year ago, GDP fell by 9.6% following a 21.5% contraction in the previous quarter.

On the month, GDP growth slowed to just 1.1% in September from a revised 2.2% in August, missing consensus expectations of 1.5% growth.

Analysts warned the economy was set to shrink again as a result of the second lockdown that began earlier this month.

Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "September and Q3 feel not just like old news but like ancient news! We already know that GDP will struggle to rise in October as tighter restrictions were imposed and that it will take a hammering in November as the effects of the second Covid-19 lockdown are felt."

ING economist James Smith said there will be a sharp decline to follow the third-quarter GDP bounceback.

"We expect a 6-7% decline in UK GDP through November, rendering the unprecedented bounce-back we saw in the third quarter 'old news'," he said. "We expect the latest lockdowns to leave the size of the UK economy some 15% below pre-virus levels, as of November."

In equity markets, Burberry was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as it posted a 75% drop in first-half profit driven by the Covid-19 crisis but said it had seen an improvement in sales in the second quarter and that revenue would be affected by fewer markdowns.

B&M European Value Retail rose as it announced a special dividend and reported a jump in first-half profit and revenue, having been able to remain open during the first and second lockdowns.

Qinetiq and Hill & Smith were also on the front foot after well-received updates.

On the downside, Sainsburys slumped as its shares went ex-dividend, along with Shell.

Legal & General lost ground after saying it planned an unchanged dividend for 2020 and for the payout to increase more slowly than earnings and cash generation over five years. The insurer and asset manager said its "ambition" remained for annual operating profit to be broadly in line with 2019's result of £2.3bn.

National Express and Vesuvius also fell after trading updates.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,327.83 -0.85%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,332.30 -0.04%
techMARK (TASX) 3,948.59 -0.24%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,685.00p 3.56%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,040.50p 2.11%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,683.50p 2.00%
Kingfisher (KGF) 298.10p 1.60%
DCC (DCC) 5,786.00p 1.37%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 507.00p 1.12%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 13,545.00p 0.86%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,205.00p 0.82%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,319.00p 0.74%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,037.00p 0.68%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 198.70p -5.06%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 228.10p -3.39%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 376.35p -2.90%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,316.00p -2.53%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,398.00p -2.48%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 417.60p -2.48%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 143.05p -2.02%
BP (BP.) 238.25p -1.97%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,168.20p -1.83%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 96.62p -1.83%

FTSE 250 - Risers

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 304.60p 4.67%
Scottish Inv Trust (SCIN) 765.00p 3.38%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,338.00p 3.08%
Premier Foods (PFD) 96.40p 2.88%
Just Group (JUST) 47.98p 2.83%
Bodycote (BOY) 772.50p 2.79%
Sanne Group (SNN) 618.00p 2.66%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,428.00p 2.44%
Coats Group (COA) 68.70p 2.38%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 998.00p 2.36%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

National Express Group (NEX) 217.00p -5.24%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 60.75p -3.72%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,178.00p -2.48%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 381.40p -2.41%
Carnival (CCL) 1,096.50p -2.40%
Meggitt (MGGT) 374.30p -2.35%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 468.60p -2.33%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 261.10p -2.28%
Fidelity Special Values (FSV) 217.00p -2.25%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 278.00p -2.11%