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Summary
- FTSE 100 traded in the negative region on Wednesday on renowned Covid worries
- The index tumbled 0.74 per cent to an intraday bottom of 6,649.37
- Barring Swiss SMI, all major European indices traded in the red
The headline FTSE 100 traded in the negative region on Wednesday, 24 March, as investors’ sentiments were jolted by the apparently emerging third wave of Covid-19 infections in the European countries. The large-scale vaccination programme in the United Kingdom, as well as in the other neighbouring countries, have seemingly failed to curb the rate of infection.
Covid worries bite again
The highly-anticipated reopening plan across Britain and in other countries is likely to be modified if the present rate of infections persists in the upcoming weeks. However, the government of the UK is progressing adequately well in the ongoing inoculation drive, achieving the predefined target for immunising the adults as set out by the JCVI-recommended priority groups.
FTSE 100 tumbled 0.74 per cent to an intraday bottom of 6,649.37 from the previous close of 6,699.19. The index recovered most of its losses in the wee hours of trading but was still hovering in the negative territory. At around 0906 GMT, FTSE 100 was trading at 6,685.46, down 0.20 per cent. On the contrary, FTSE 250 turned green after briefly reversing all the morning losses.
Equities picture red cloud
Barring the marginal uptick in the Swiss SMI of Switzerland, all other major European stock indices traded in the red, with Spain’s IBEX 35 leading the losses. DAX in Germany dropped 0.56 per cent, CAC 40 of France skid more than 0.40 per cent, Italy’s FTSE MIB tripped 0.13 per cent, IBEX 35 of Spain plunged 0.86 per cent, while Swiss SMI rose 0.05 per cent.
The mini correction was observed in the leading Asian equities, earlier in the day, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 registering a loss of a little more than 2 per cent at the close, Shanghai Composite of China falling 1.30 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sliding 2.03 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi managed to close with a marginal drop of 0.28 per cent, while India’s Nifty 50 slumped 1.15 per cent.
CPI inflation eases to 0.4%
Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) based annual inflation rate eased to 0.4 per cent in February 2021 as compared to 0.7 per cent in January. The fall in prices of clothing and footwear emerged as the major contributors to the falling rate of inflation as the category recognised the biggest annual decrease since November 2009.
The prices of clothing and footwear slipped 5.7 per cent in February as against a drop of 3.4 per cent in January. The marginal correction in the prices of games, toys and hobbies and an acute fall in prices of second-hand cars also contributed to the downtick in the inflation rate.
