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FTSE 100 closes at 7,623.99
The FTSE 100 closed at 7,623.99, down 0.8% for the day after a minor rally just before the close.
The index opened with only modest losses, but sunk as low as 7582 by the mid-afternoon.
Gambling giant Entain was by far the biggest faller, with close to £1 billion taken off its market cap as it warned it would miss revenue expectations.
CRH was the biggest riser as its shares started trading in New York alongside their London listing.
Dylan Jones: Remote working is killing London. Get back to the office
“Those with the best views see everything,” Evening Standard editor Dylan Jones writes. “Andrea Rossi, the chief executive of global investment manager M&G, has a corner office on the 11th floor of the firm’s Fenchurch Avenue HQ.
From here he can see the inactivity at street level at the end of the week.
‘I get a bit frustrated when I come in on a Friday, because the whole City, it’s empty,’ he says, disappointedly.
“He certainly isn’t the only one in London to feel this way. Speak to any shopkeeper, retailer, or news-seller, or anyone in the hospitality industry, and they will tell you the same.
“London feels like it is on its way back: commuter patterns are up, West End footfall is up, and tourists are beginning to feel as ubiquitous as they were pre-Covid.
“But there is still a bewildering lack of urgency among employers regarding full time in-office working.”
Read more here
‘Push on with HS2 Euston hub at pace’, ministers are told
The capital’s commercial property sector today urged the Government to push on with its plans for a HS2 hub at Euston “at pace”, amid concerns that the huge railway project may never reach central London.
In an open letter to Transport Secretary Mark Harper, the London Property Alliance (LPA), which represents more than 400 companies involved in central London real estate including developers, landlords and planning consultants, said the high speed rail line’s terminus in zone one would bring massive social and economic regeneration.
Read more here
FTSE sinks further in afternoon trade
An hour before the end of the day’s trading session, the FTSE has fallen further, down around 1.1% on the close of Friday’s session.
Here’s a look through your key markets data.
CRH shares rise on first day of trading on Wall Street
Shares in Irish building materials firm CRH have risen since starting trading on Wall Street, after the firm became one of the highest-profile businesses to switch its primary listing away from London.
Shares are up 1.3% to $55.29 since opening on the New York Stock Exchange.
Elsewhere in New York, shares in chip maker Arm picked back up after falling below their $51 IPO price soon after markets opened. They are currently trading at $51.50, up 0.3% for the day.
Tougher diversity standards proposed for finance sector in misconduct crackdown
The UK’s financial sector could face tougher standards for diversity and inclusion in a bid to clamp down on workplace bullying and sexual harassment, under new proposals by financial regulators.
Larger companies will come under more scrutiny after a string of sexual assault allegations have emerged at influential firms in the City.
Proposed new measures aim to make it easier for staff members to speak out or challenge behaviour they see at their firm.
Read more here
Lego scraps plan to make bricks out of recycled drinks bottles
Lego has ditched plans to make bricks out of recycled drinks bottles after finding the new material failed to cut carbon emissions.
The Danish toy giant announced in 2021 it was researching whether PET plastic, or polyethylene terephthalate – which does not degrade in quality when recycled – could be used to make its building bricks.
It was part of a plan to shift to oil-free bricks, with Lego hoping recycled PET plastic could replace crude oil-based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which is currently used in pieces.
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What happened to the big return? Millions are still working from home
There were growing concerns on Monday that the “big return” to the central London workplace has stalled.
Millions of rail journeys a month that were made in and out of the capital before the pandemic are no longer occurring on weekdays, despite the post-Covid economic recovery, according to the latest travel data.
London’s three main commuter railways — South Western, Southeastern and GoVia Thameslink, which runs Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern — carry about 22 million fewer passengers a month than four years ago.
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Secret WWII London tunnels to be opened to public under new £220 million plans
Anetwork of secret tunnels hidden under central London for decades will soon be opened up to the public under an ambitious £220 million plan for a huge new tourist attraction “as iconic as the London Eye” unveiled today.
The Kingsway Exchange tunnels, an expanse of 8,000 sq m of passageways several hundred feet below High Holborn, were shrouded in mystery for most of the 20th century with details covered by the government’s Official Secrets Act, because of their wartime role as a base for MI6 officials.
The site is now set to be transformed into a museum exploring their history after it was bought by a consortium called London Tunnels Ltd.
Read more here
China worries weigh on FTSE 100, upgrade boosts AstraZeneca
A fresh crisis in China’s property sector today triggered the selling of London’s big mining stocks amid fears over weaker demand.
The pressure came after real estate giant Evergrande revealed it had hit problems with the debt restructuring plan.
Worries over the potential impact on China’s economic recovery meant the Hang Seng index finished 1.8% lower, with Asia-focused stocks down in London.
Heavy fallers included mining giant Rio Tinto, which retreated 3% or 150p to 5033p, and rival Anglo American after it lost 65p at 2183p.
Hong Kong-based insurer Prudential added to the pressure by falling 16.8p to 884.4p as London’s top flight weakened 63.39 points to 7,620.52.
On the risers board, AstraZeneca shares jumped 210p to 11,256p as US bank Jefferies gave the drugs giant a “buy” rating and new price target of 13,000p.
It was a quiet return to the FTSE 100 for Howden Joinery, having taken the place of building supplies firm CRH.
The kitchens specialist, which last traded in the top flight a year ago, drifted 0.2p to 743.4p. CRH rose 135p to 4476p after switching its primary listing from London to New York, a move ending a 12 year run in the FTSE 100.
The second-tier FTSE 250 index fell 186.06 points to 18,420.78, with the China worries contributing to Aston Martin Lagonda falling 9p to 269.6p.
Media content technology business Videndum jumped 11% or 55.2p to 573.24p, boosted by hopes of an end to strike action by the Writers’ Guild of America.
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