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* FTSE 100 down 1.3%, FTSE 250 slips 1.1%
April 8 (Reuters) - Britain's equity markets lost steam on
Wednesday, as rising deaths globally doused hopes that the
coronavirus crisis was abating, while Tesco warned of more costs
due to the pandemic.
Shares in Britain's biggest retailer TSCO.L fell 4.7%
after saying it expects to take a hit of up to 925 million
pounds ($1.1 billion) and warned it was unable to give a profit
forecast for this financial year. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE fell 1.3% after
closing at a near two-week high on Tuesday, while midcap shares
.FTMC lost 1.1% - down from a three-week high.
Insurers Aviva AV.L and Direct Line DLGD.L fell 8.9% and
4.9%, respectively, after they pulled their 2019 final dividends
as they look to ride out the economic fallout from the pandemic.
On a brighter note, healthcare company Novacyt NCYT.L
surged 17.4% after it got a green signal for its COVID-19
diagnostic test for procurement under the World Health
Organisation's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing process.