A beer and popcorn-fuelled rally drove the FTSE 350 index higher on Tuesday as investors geared up for next month’s reopening of cinemas and pubs in England.
With Boris Johnson today finally poised to announce the further easing of Covid-19 restrictions and confirm reopening dates for the hospitality sector, shares in leisure stocks improved.
Pub group Mitchells & Butlers gained 5.62p to 230.12p, JD Wetherspoon improved 34p to 1148p and Marston’s rose 2.5p to 72.75p.
Cinema chains were also in favour. Everyman leapt 12p, or more than 9%, to 134.5p, and Cineworld was more than 4% higher, up 3.28p to 79.66p.
Cineworld plans to reopen its cinemas in the UK and United States from July 10, with the Black Widow movie among highlights for returning cinema-goers.
Measures for the Covid-19 era include a new booking system to ensure social distancing in auditoriums and the adaption of daily movie schedules to manage queues and avoid crowding.
Cineworld, whose shares have recovered to 80p from a low of 21p in mid-March, got a further boost yesterday when it revealed a new US$250 million debt facility with a maturity of 2023.
The resurgence of leisure stocks meant the domestic-focused FTSE 250 index recovered from yesterday’s losses to stand 0.86% higher at 17,727.21 points.
The appetite for risk was also evident among top flight stocks, with Rolls-Royce and Royal Bank of Scotland among those 3% higher. The FTSE 100 index was 0.82% higher at 6,296.04.
Rightmove shares fell 4% to 568.2p after revealing it will take a further revenues hit of up to £20 million to cover discounts needed to help agents cope with the pandemic.
Despite positive consumer reaction to the reopening of the housing market, it takes three months on average for transactions to complete — hurting the cash flows of agents. It will also take time to build a pipeline of vendors and new sales instructions.
Rightmove is offering agency customers in England a 60% discount for August and 40% for September. Overall membership at the end of May of 19,054 was down 3.8% on December, reflecting 620 fewer agency branches and a reduction of 135 new homes developments.
Shares in rival property portal OntheMarket moved in the opposite direction — up 6% to 83.05p — after extending listing fee discounts for a further two months to 25 September.
The discount will remain at 33% for the first month and will be 20% for the second month.
