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Investors ride the virus rollercoaster

By Mark Shapland

THE Omicron roller-coaster ride was in full swing once again as investors struggled to make up their minds about the latest Covid variant.

The FTSE 100 closed up 1.6pc, or 109.23 points, at 7168.68 while the FTSE 250 climbed 1.8pc, or 393.01 points, to 22,912.73.

Gains were made after an official at the World Health Organisation said Covid vaccines appear to work against Omicron, adding that most cases appear to be mild.

Traders were also cheered by Biontech chief executive Ugur Sahin who urged people to stop ‘freaking out’. Biontech developed one of the world’s most widelyused jabs with Pfizer.

His comments come after Moderna boss Stephane Bancel caused a storm on Tuesday by warning that vaccines would be much less effective. One trader said: ‘Sahin is a trained oncologist and immunologist. Bancel is a businessman. I know who I believe.’

Airlines, oil giants and miners all pushed higher on hopes that the world will not return to mass lockdowns and restrictions. British Airways owner IAG was up 3.4pc, or 4.3p, to 131.76p, Glencore climbed 3.6pc, or 12.7p, to 369.8p and Rolls-Royce gained 3pc, or 3.64p, to close at 126.14p.

Among popular mid-cap stocks on the march, cinema chain Cineworld surged 4.4pc, or 2.05p, to 49.05p and low-cost airline Easyjet rose 4.3pc, or 21.5p, to 518p.

Oilers were helped by a 4pc rise in the Brent crude price to $72 per barrel. BP moved 2.3pc, or 7.45p, higher to 323.9p and Shell was up 1.9pc, or 30.4p, to 1607.8p.

Heading in the other direction were stocks that tended to perform strongly during lockdowns. Ocado lost 3.1pc, or 56p, to close at 1739.5p and Hargreaves Lansdown was off 0.7pc, or 9.5p, at 1327.5p. BT was on the charge as takeover chatter around the telecoms giant shows no sign of waning.

The Government is understood to be monitoring the situation at BT after a report that Reliance Industries, the Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate controlled by Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest businessman, was weighing up a takeover bid.

Activist investor Patrick Drahi, founder of Altice, the French telecoms group, also remains in the picture as BT’s largest shareholder, with a 12.1pc stake.

Drahi, 58, committed to not making an offer for six months in June but this deadline expires at the end of next week.

The City believes a storm is brewing and shares gained 4.9pc, or 7.7p, to finish at 166.3p.

But the stand-out performer was van hire firm Redde Northgate, which has surged during the pandemic. Its vans were desperately needed for the rise in online shopping while stores were shut.

Half-year profits jumped 177pc to £78.9m, sending it 11pc, or 43.5p, higher to 438.8p. Analysts at Peel Hunt, Barclays, and Stifel & Singer Capital Markets all upgraded their numbers on the stock. Redde has also been touted as a potential takeover target for private equity, although its strong performance over the past year could make it too expensive for opportunistic vultures.

Sir Martin Sorrell venture S4 Capital lost ground despite its 12th deal in 11 months. It snapped up Maverick Digital, a Chicago company, that helps companies including McDonald’s and Unilever use the Salesforce platform.

The terms weren’t disclosed. Sorrell said he was ‘delighted’ but shares fell 0.5pc, or 3p, to 582p.

It was also a day to forget for Peel Hunt. The small and mid-cap broker has had a good pandemic, raising cash for clients and advising on flotations. Its own float at 228p in September on AIM valued it at £280m and raised £70m for staff and other investors.

But yesterday it said revenue sank 23pc to £71m in the half-year ahead of the float. Profit halved to £29m. Shares were flat at 210.5p.

City & Finance

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2021-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

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