UK: Monday sees markets fall away as dealers take profits
Travel shares had a tough time of things yesterday as London’s equity markets slumped amid profit taking by dealers.
After breaking through the psychologically-important 4,000 level last week, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 2.7 per cent, losing 107.7 points to close at 3,941.3. The broader-based FTSE 250 index also fell, losing 77.2 points to end the day at 4672.7 – a decline of 1.6 per cent. It was a moderately busy day, with 2.4 billion shares traded before the 6pm cut-off point.
There was much gloom in the travel sector; among the airlines, British Airways fell 5.75p to close at 137.5p after warning that it was still operating in a challenging marketplace, while EasyJet gained slightly and added 3.5p for a 196.5p finish. Ryanair also fell back, tumbling 9.5p to end the day at 407.5p.
First Choice managed to add 0.5p to end the day at 90p, while MyTravel lost 0.375p to close at 17.75p. The online retailer Lastminute.com lost 3.5p to close at 113p.
