Another sluggish start for FTSE 100 as May continues to shuffle to a close

“It was another dull session in a week that has seen the drama that has defined much of May wholly absent,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

This was demonstrated on Wednesday by the FTSE 100, which again began the session unchanged at 7,040. Investors may be warily waiting for more news on the so-called ‘Indian’ strain of Covid-19, and what that might mean for the UK’s lockdown-easing plans, before making any further moves.

“The pound was just as lifeless”, said Campbell, “dipping 0.1% against the dollar but rising the same amount against the euro”. That means cable, which had briefly crossed $1.42 on Tuesday, is back at $1.4144.

The Eurozone was equally as lethargic this Wednesday, with the DAX and CAC both up 0.1%, and just short of 15,500 and 6,400 respectively.

“The Dow Jones is looking a bit livelier, with the futures pointing to a 0.3%, or 100-point, increase after the bell. But even then, that’d only lift the index back above 34,400, the level it had started at on Tuesday,” said Campbell.

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Croda International (2.82%), Flutter Entertainment (1.81%) and Entain (1.68%) have seen the biggest rises on the UK index a couple of hours into trading on Wednesday.

Intertek (-3.77%), British Land (-2.23%) and Rolls-Royce (-1.92%) make up the bottom three fallers on the FTSE 100 so far today.

British Land

British Land, one of the UK’s largest property development and investment companies, has seen the value of its properties fall by £1bn due to the outbreak of coronavirus. 

As the outlook for high streets and shopping centres worsened, many businesses were forced to close, and the FTSE 100 company saw its portfolio fall by more than 10% to £9.1bn. 

British Land confirmed its third annual loss in a row, as its loss after tax came in at £1.08bn. A year earlier the company made a £1.11bn loss.

SSE

SSE (LON:SSE), the energy company based in Scotland, announced on Wednesday that its profits rose during the year, as the company moved forward with its plan to reach net zero carbon emissions. 

The FTSE 100 company made an adjusted pre-tax profit of £1.06bn for the year to March, an increase of 4% compared to the year before. 

SSE believes the total cost of the pandemic will be £170m, below its initial expectations.