Ryanair warning sends travel stocks south
Travel and leisure stocks are under pressure in Europe this morning after another profit warning from Ryanair creates turbulence for the sector.
The Irish carrier is the biggest single faller on the international index, down 11.2 per cent at €5.42.
It is not short of familiar company.
Thomas Cook, the package holiday operator, is down 2.7 per cent at 141p.
EasyJet is down 2.9 per cent at £12.62, while IAG, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, is down 2.3 per cent at 345.9p. They are also among the biggest fallers on London's FTSE 100.
But Weir Group is the biggest single decliner on the main London index, down 6.8 per cent at £21.03 after the engineering group warned of lower than expected revenues and profits.
Overall, the FTSE 100 is up 0.4 per cent at 6,759.21 in London, with four mining stocks on the list of its top 10 biggest gainers. Both the sector and the index are being led by Antofagasta, the Chilean copper miner, up 1. per cent at 850.5p.
Equities indices around Europe are looking brighter this morning, as hopes grow that the European Central Bank will point towards a cut in its benchmark lending rate.
The expectation that slowing inflation in the shared currency area leaves the ECB room for even looser monetary policy is leaving investors ready to take on more risk.
Mining and metals stocks, as well as financials, are driving gains on the FTSE Eurofirst 300. Overall, the pan-European benchmark is up 0.2 per cent at 1,292.64.
In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 0.3 per cent at 4,285.55.
Frankfurt's Xetra Dax 30 is up 0.3 per cent at 9,035.14.
In Milan, the FTSE MIB is up 0.5 per cent at 19,263.73.
Madrid's Ibex is up 0.3 per cent at 9,864.2.