The FTSE 100 slid by 0.57% on Thursday morning to 7,067.14 as AMC shares surged following a campaign by Reddit investors.
“The period earlier in the year when so-called ‘meme’ stocks were soaring wasn’t necessarily the happiest time for the markets overall and it’s notable that after shares in US cinema chain AMC Entertainment soared to a record high overnight the FTSE 100 fell out of bed on Thursday morning,” says AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.
“National Grid shares trading without the rights to the dividend accounted for some of the weakness but nervousness over inflation may be creeping up too ahead of tomorrow’s key US jobs report,” Hewson added.
It appears there are a number of factors for investors to consider, including new variants of Covid or the economy overheating.
“There is also an element of having to second guess how central banks and governments will respond to the rapidly shifting backdrop,” said Hewson.
“All of this uncertainty is making it tricky for the markets to make concerted progress as we move towards the halfway point of 2021.”
FTSE 100 Top Movers
Johnson Matthey (1.56%), Burberry Group (0.73%) and Pearson (0.65%) are the biggest movers so far on a slow day for the UK index.
At the other end, National Grid (-4.71%), Kingfisher (-3.26%) and BT (-2.95%) are holding the FTSE 100 back.
B&M
Bargain store B&M (LON:BME) saw is profits surge throughout the past year as its cheap prices proved to be an attractive proposition to customers during the pandemic. B&M made an adjusted profit before tax of £540.1m, an increase of 107%, for the year ended in March 2021.
The FTSE 100 company’s total revenues rose by 26% to £4.8bn, while its annual core earnings increased to 83% to £626.4m.