UK indices lower as markets baulk at new travel restrictions

The FTSE 100 and 250 indices were led lower on Friday by travel stocks which sold off thanks to fresh quarantine impositions on six countries, including the UK’s number two destination, France. Fresh quarantine rules means travellers returning from France will have to quarantine at home for 14 days, and will cast a pall over an already dismal summer season for holidaymakers in Europe. With the FTSE 100 down 1.5% on Friday, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), owner of British Airways and Iberian Airways led the index lower, down 4.8%. Aveva Group, off by 4.2% and Rolls Royce, down 4%, were some of the other notable losers on the day.

Meanwhile in the FTSE 250, which was down by a more modest 1%, the world’s largest tour operator TUI was down 8.4% on the quarantine news, while easyJet was off by 6.6%. Meanwhile Greencore Group’s share price was down 6.4% thanks to an outbreak of coronavirus among its workers at a food packaging plant in Northampton. Nearly 300 employees tested positive for the illness, raising questions over the firm’s safety policies amidst the pandemic.

• FTSE 100: -1.6% Friday, -20.6% YTD
• FTSE 250: -1% Friday, -19.8% YTD

What to watch

BHP: Mining firm BHP (formerly BHP Billiton) reports its full years at 08:30am Tuesday Melbourne time. Investors will be keen to see how it has fared during the crisis, but the share price has already been given a boost by the high price of iron ore. Iron ore’s price is soaring thanks to supply and demand issues in China. Fellow iron ore miner Rio Tinto paid out higher dividends thanks to the price spike making BHP one to watch for similar. The stock is, however, subject to some noise around ethical divestment, with the UK’s largest pension fund, the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), announcing it was ditching fossil fuel-related investments on environmental grounds, which is set to include BHP.

Persimmon: Housebuilder Persimmon is set to report its interim results tomorrow, with analysts expecting a decrease from the £513 million in profits it made last year. The firm has already signalled its half-year profits are down 33% to £1.1 billion with the completion of 4,900 house sales, down from 7,584 last year, but June 2020 experienced a 30% pickup in activity in this area. July and August data will be key to see whether the firm was able to keep up the pace of regrowth as other house builders muscle back in. Analysts at UBS expect an interim dividend for 2020 of 110p.

Crypto corner: US Postal Service touts blockchain-based mail-in voting

The US Postal Service has submitted patents for a proposed blockchain-based mail-in voting system for the November Presidential election, according to Decrypt.

The service faces major challenges, with a funding crisis ahead of the election the central one, and cost-cutting measures likely to slow down the service significantly. But with mail-in voting seen as crucial thanks to the coronavirus crisis and President Trump routinely railing against the process, the USPS has proposed an innovative potential solution.

Patents published this week, first submitted back 7 February this year, outline plans for a mail-in voting system based upon blockchain technology. While the patent is quite broad, one suggestion includes paper-based unique ID codes sent out to voters that can then be verified with a mobile device to confirm identification, with a ballot cast digitally.  The system would use blockchain technology to keep voter ID and voting preference separate to maintain anonymity.

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