U.K. stocks slumped on Friday amid fears that a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa may spark fresh outbreaks and scuttle a fragile economic recovery.
The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 207 points, or 2.8 percent, to 7,102 after rising 0.3 percent the previous day.
Travel & leisure stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure as the U.K. issued a temporary flight ban on six African countries.
British Airways owner IAG and airline EasyJet both plunged around 11 percent, while travel company TUI lost 9 percent.
Commodity-related stocks fell broadly as oil and metal prices declined on economic slowdown worries.
Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta, Glencore shed 4-5 percent while oil & gas company BP Plc lost 6.3 percent and Royal Dutch Shell gave up 5 percent.
Beverage company Diageo declined 2.8 percent after announcing it has started the next tranche of its return of capital program.
Market Analysis
FTSE 100 Tumbles On Worries Over New Covid Variant
2021-11-26 09:23:48
