Stock markets have recouped some of this morning’s losses but still ended the day in the red as fresh Covid restrictions dented UK and European investor confidence.
The FTSE 100 closed down 1 per cent, or 71.9 points, at 7,198.0, while the FTSE 250 also fell 1 per cent, or 230.5 points, to 22,549.9.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, said: ‘Fears about new Omicron restrictions and below-average festive week volumes look set to drive a choppy week of trade ahead with little sign of a Santa rally so far.
‘In fact, it looks as though he came and went already with the FTSE 100 rallying in the first week of December before retracing around 60 per cent of those gains.’
Britain’s Prudential Regulation Authority has fined Standard Chartered £46.55million for failing to be open and cooperative with the regulator, and for failings in its controls.
Former Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has been appointed by GlaxoSmithKline as non-executive chair designate of the new consumer healthcare company, which will result from the proposed demerger from GSK in 2022.
GSK said Lewis’s appointment will take effect from 1 January 2022.
Elsewhere, the World Economic Forum has postponed its annual meeting in Davos to next summer due to the Omicron outbreak.
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Penalty: Prudential Regulation Authority has fined Standard Chartered £46.55million
