U.K. stocks edged lower on Monday as investors kept a wary eye on the row between AstraZeneca and the EU over vaccine provision.
With AstraZeneca hitting production glitches, Europe has decided to block the company from sending any of its vaccines out of the EU until it meets its contract promises there first.
The virus situation in Europe is deteriorating, raising fresh concerns over the pace of economic recovery.
The benchmark FTSE 100 slipped 19 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,721 after rallying 1 percent on Friday.
Domino’s Pizza Group shares rose about 1 percent. The company has signed a binding sale and purchase deal with PPH ehf., an investment consortium, for the sale of its Iceland business Pizza Pizza ehf.
BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were moving lower as oil prices fell on news the cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal was partially refloated.
In economic releases, U.K. mortgage borrowing increased the most since 2016, data from the Bank of England showed.
According to BoE, mortgage borrowing strengthened in February with individuals borrowing an additional GBP 6.2 billion secured on their homes as the temporary stamp duty tax relief has been extended to the end of June.
The number of mortgage approvals declined to 87,669 in February from 97,350 in January. The expected level was 95,000.
FTSE 100 Edges Lower On Covid Concerns
2021-03-29 09:54:25
