FTSE 100 posts biggest fall in two months as Covid-19 worries hit markets – as it happened

Graeme Wearden

from on 2021-04-20 20:26 (#5GT8J)

Tobacco, travel and hospitality stocks lead fallers on the FTSE 100 index, as European markets have worst day this year

Latest: FTSE 100 dives 2%
Europe-wide Stoxx 600 fell 1.9%, worst fall since last December
Shares in travel and hospitality firms down amid Covid-19 worries
Japan's Nikkei fell 2% today as cases rise
WSJ: US considering cutting nicotine levels in cigarettes

Earlier:

9.26pm BST

A late PS: The US stock market ended the day rather lower too, as anxiety over Covid-19 weighed on shares in New York.

Airlines, energy firms, chemical producers, financial stocks and were manufacturers among the fallers. United Airlines lost 8.5%, making it the top S&P 500 faller.

U.S. stocks fell for a second day as strong corporate earnings failed to boost the market, while an alarming rise in global Covid cases raised concerns about the recovery.
The Dow fell 0.75%.
The S&P 500 was down 0.68%.
The Nasdaq tumbled 0.92%. https://t.co/ZnKZHAItFn pic.twitter.com/MlEKc8r1fM

Netflix shares fell as much as 11% in after-hours trading after reporting a large miss in subscriber numbers in its first-quarter earnings report. The company also said it only expects to add about 1 million subscribers in the current quarter.

The company's revenue still grew 24% year over year and was in line with its beginning of quarter forecast, Netflix said. It also delivered a strong beat on earnings compared to Street estimate

EARNINGS: Netflix posts Q1 earnings that beat expectations, but reports a dramatic slowdown in subscribers.
-EPS: $3.75, vs. $2.97 expected
-Revenue: $7.16 billion, vs. $7.13 billion expected@JBoorstin has the numbers. https://t.co/Unc1y54WW2 pic.twitter.com/9SDPgeHsYX

7.39pm BST

The FTSE 100 fell sharply on Tuesday, taking it back below 7,000, as global markets were dragged lower by growing investor concern over the Indian variant of Covid-19 and sliding tobacco shares.

The blue-chip index dropped by 2% or 140 points to close the day at 6,860, led by the British Airways owner, IAG, amid fears over renewed travel restrictions and as shares in major tobacco firms fell on the prospect of tougher rules being introduced by the Biden administration.

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