FTSE 100 sees steepest drop in two months as Covid fears rise Business News

The UK’s FTSE 100 fell sharply on Tuesday, falling back below 7,000 as tobacco shares fell and global sentiments about the recovery took a hit amid an alarming rise in Covid-19 cases.

The blue chip index fell 2% or 140 points, the biggest drop in two months after recovering to pre-pandemic levels, to end the day at 6,860. The domestically focused FTSE 250 has fell 1.70 percent, or 382 points, to close at 22,108.

Rising Covid-19 infections have hit travel agencies and airline stocks have plummeted, and the threat of new nicotine rules in the US has caused UK tobacco stocks to drop sharply, wiping out 5 billion of pounds sterling of market value.

British American Tobacco fell 7.6% or 221 points to £ 26.92 – a five-week low – and Imperial Brands fell 7.3% or 115 points to £ 14.65, its lowest price in more than four weeks.

While the biggest loser in the FTSE 100 was International Airlines Group, which posted a drop of 8.11%, a drop of 15 points, taking the share price to £ 194.

The stock market extended its losses on both sides of the pond, with US stocks also falling for a second day on Tuesday despite strong corporate earnings data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 256 points, or 0.8%, to 33,821, while the S&P 500 fell 28 points, or 0.7%, to 4,134 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 128 points, or 0 , 9%, at 13786.

Asian markets also got off to a slow start on Wednesday, with worsening coronavirus outbreaks in India and Thailand casting a shadow over hopes of an economic rebound as most indices trade.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened in red and fell more than 2 percent until noon, with South Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan index also lagging in red. The Hang Seng has fallen 474 points or 1.63% so far. But the Shanghai Composite saw a strong recovery after the early hours and traded green around midday.

Indian markets were closed on Wednesday due to a national holiday. On Tuesday, the Sensex finished down 244 points to 47,706 while the Nifty fell 63 points to 14,296, amid a further rise in Covid infections as the country surpassed 2 million active cases.