FTSE 100 live: Ocado drags London premier index into red as pound strengthens after Sunak clinches Brexit deal

London’s FTSE 100 lost ground today, held lower by middle class favourite and online supermarket Ocado tumbling after it said losses have widened.

The capital’s premier index fell 0.46 per cent to 7,898.29 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dipped 0.28 per cent to 19,830.49 points.

Ocado slid more than seven per cent today, sending it to the bottom of the FTSE 100, after it said pre tax losses topped £500m, up substantially from a near £180m loss in the previous year.

The firm reaped in the rewards of Brits switching to online supermarkets to do their weekly shop amid lockdowns to stem the flow of Covid-19 infections.

However, demand has flowed back into bricks and mortar stores after virus curbs were lifted, weighing on Ocado’s performance.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said: “Ocado is caught between a rock and a hard place, as the two elements of its business continue to face different tests.”

FTSE 100 is lower over last week

“The Solutions business, on which most of the group’s hopes for future growth and profitability is pinned, has yet to deliver on a sufficient scale to appease investors,” he added.

Ocado Solutions provides automated warehouse management services for supermarkets.

Finance firms also dragged the FTSE 100 lower, with fund managers abrdn and Hargreaves Lansdown both down more than one per cent.

However, wealth manager St James’s Place climbed to the top of the index, advancing 3.35 per cent.

The premier index’s early 2023 rally has lost some steam of late after it climbed above 8,000 points for the first time ever. It finished down last week and has shed nearly 1.5 per cent over the last two days.

On the mid-cap FTSE 250, budget airline Wizz Air lost some altitude, stumbling more than two per cent.

The pound strengthened 0.23 per cent against the US dollar. 

Oil prices jumped around one per cent.