By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – The FTSE 350 Travel & Leisure sector was underperforming on Monday after reports suggested the UK government was set to delay the final stage of their lockdown roadmap, which was set to see a removal of all Covid restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold a press conference at 18:00BST where he is expected to announce a four-week delay to the easing of restrictions, which were originally pencilled in for 21st June.
Aviation and travel
Although the easing of restrictions was not expected to bring any changes to international travel, airlines and aviation stocks are still trading lower as the spread of the ‘Delta’ variant across the UK is slowly leading to increased hospitalisations, despite what seemed an impressive vaccination programme.
Susannah Street, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) suggests there is an expectation that increased domestic restrictions will mean quarantine will stay in place for longer, pushing back the recovery in the airline sector.
“With freedom set to be pushed back over the horizon, and a four week delay is expected to be announced to the full re-opening of the economy, aviation stocks have been hit with a burst of fresh turbulence,” Streeter said in an emailed note.
British Airways parent IAG (LON:ICAG) was the worst performing stock in the FTSE 100, while EasyJet (LON:EZJ), Ryanair (LON:RYA) and Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) all declined.
Meanwhile, jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) was not immune from the selling pressure, also declining as the resumption of normal international travel during the summer season looks less and less likely.
Restaurants, Pubs & Hotels
Although a delay was looking increasingly likely towards the end of last week, pub and restaurant stocks in the UK still came under selling pressure on Monday.
Restaurant Group (LON:RTN), Marston’s (LON:MARS), J D Wetherspoon (LON:JDW) and Mitchells & Butlers (LON:MAB) were all trading lower.
Similarly, domestic hotel names such as Whitbread (LON:WTB), which runs the Premier Inn hotel chain, and InterContinental Hotels (LON:IHG) were also trading with losses.
However, it wasn’t all bad news. Those in the takeaway industry were benefitting, with shares in Domino’s Pizza (LON:DOM) and Just Eat Takeaway (LON:JETJ) trading higher amid hopes that the UK will continue to turn to food delivery if other leisure activities remain closed.