London stocks tumble on fears of second virus wave; BP slides

London's FTSE 100 fell more than 2% on Monday as a record number of new cases of the novel coronavirus in Beijing and underwhelming data from China raised concerns of a slower economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

London's FTSE 100 fell more than 2% on Monday as a record number of new cases of the novel coronavirus in Beijing and underwhelming data from China raised concerns of a slower economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The FTSE 100 was down 2.3%, with BP Plc sliding 5% to the bottom of the commodity-heavy index after saying it would write off up to $17.5 billion in the value of its assets.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 1.9%, led by declines for the mining, banking and energy sectors. Recruiting firm SThree slid 3.7% on reporting lower half-year net fees as the pandemic forced businesses around the world to put a freeze on hiring activity.

But business supplies distributor Bunzl jumped 8.3% as it forecast an increase in revenue for the first half of the year, boosted by robust demand from the grocery, safety and healthcare sectors in the first few months of the coronavirus crisis.