London Report: Supermarket slump sees FTSE fall again after Monday’s lift
BRITAIN’S main equity index fell yesterday, with big supermarket groups hit by fresh signs of a loss of market share, while uncertainty over future US monetary policy also weighed on the market.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.6 per cent, or 36.01 points, at 6,486.19 points, retreating after a 1.3 per cent gain on Monday.
Supermarket retailers joined the FTSE’s loser-board after a survey by market researcher Kantar Worldpanel showed over half of Britain’s households had shopped at German discount grocers Aldi or Lidl in the past 12 weeks.
The data showed that the UK’s so-called big four supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and WM Morrison – had continued to lose market share.
Shares in Sainsbury fell 4.3 per cent to the bottom of the FTSE 100 index while WM Morrison dropped 2.9 per cent and Tesco weakened by around two per cent.
Stocks also wobbled on fears that the Fed could announce tapering today.