FTSE 100 dips as asset managers take hit from coronavirus sell-off

Britain's FTSE 100 edged lower on Wednesday, as investors fretted over the mounting evidence of economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the sell-off it has driven on global financial markets. The blue-chip index fell 0.3% by 0715 GMT, extending losses from Tuesday on signs Britain was headed for a longer lockdown and forecasts that the economy could shrink by 13% this year, its deepest recession in 300 years.

The domestically-focused midcap index, stuffed with companies more purely exposed to the British economy, fell 1.5%. Asset manager Jupiter Fund Management dropped 5.6% after reporting an 18.3% drop in assets under management in the first quarter as fears over the coronavirus pandemic rattled financial markets.

Peer Quilter Plc also slipped 3.8%. Shares in Kromek, a global supplier of medical devices, shot up 34.7% after announcing plans to start the manufacturing of medical ventilators in Britain and globally under a license from Japan's Metran.