By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – The FTSE 100 has fallen 1% in the early part of the afternoon in a broad sell-off, although airlines were relatively strong despite cautious updates from EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) and Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON:WIZZ). The FTSE 350 Travel & Leisure sector was generally strong with Carnival PLC (LON:CCL), International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON:ICAG) and easyJet the best performing stocks in the broader FTSE 350.
Diageo PLC (LON:DGE) shares were up around 3% after a positive trading update. The company had strong net sales growth of 12% in North America, driven by an 80% increase in sales of tequila. “North America, our largest market, performed particularly strongly and ahead of our expectations.,” Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes said. “Consumer demand has been resilient and the spirits category continues to gain share of total beverage alcohol.”
Mining Companies
Miners staged somewhat of a rebound after the decline seen on Wednesday after an update from Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL). Although the company cut its forecast for diamond production in 2021, other metrics remained unchanged and shares traded higher by over 2%.
Shorted stocks
Two stocks that benefited on Wednesday from the squeeze in heavily shorted stocks, Pearson PLC (LON:PSON) and Cineworld Group (LON:CINE), reversed course on Thursday, both falling around 5%. The two companies had been some of the best performing stocks in Europe the day prior.
Sterling
The pound was also trading lower with GBP/USD off around 40 pips, although in a relatively tight range. The extension of the UK lockdown on late Wednesday also helped the euro recover some lost ground with EUR/GBP up slightly at 0.8860.