London stocks drop to near one-month low as lockdown fears weigh By Reuters

(Reuters) – British shares fell on Thursday as energy and mining stocks tracked commodity prices that fell on virus and lockdowns-led demand worries, while the vaccine row between the European Union and AstraZeneca Plc continued to weigh.

AstraZeneca was the top drag to the FTSE 100 index for the second consecutive day after EU officials demanded on Wednesday that AstraZeneca use British production facilities to cover the shortfalls in supply that was promised to the continent.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.7%, with miners and energy stocks being the top losers. The mid-cap index also slid 0.7%.

The spike in virus cases and lockdowns led the UK to see its biggest rise in vacant shops in over two decades, while car output fell to its lowest level since 1984 after the COVID-19 pandemic shut factories and hurt demand.

British airline easyJet (LON:EZJ) dropped 2.2% after warning that it would fly no more than 10% of 2019’s capacity in the Jan-March quarter, while London-listed shares of Hungarian airline Wizz Air fell 0.3% after reporting a third-quarter loss.

Miner Anglo American (LON:AAL) gained 1% after it trimmed its production outlook for diamonds in 2021, owing to operational challenges, but it kept output targets for most other metals unchanged.