(Bloomberg) -- U.K. travel and leisure stocks extended declines after the Financial Times said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to announce fresh restrictions in England to curb the spread of the omicron Covid-19 variant.
Restaurant Group Plc (LON:RTN) and Cineworld Group (LON:CINE) were among the worst performers on the U.K. FTSE All-Share Index, both down more than 6% as of 11 a.m. London time. Pub operator J D Wetherspoon Plc (LON:JDW), meanwhile, lost 4.7%.
Airlines were also hit, with Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON:WIZZ), EasyJet Plc (LON:EZJ) and International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:ICAG) all falling more than 5%. Travel shares were hurt earlier by weakening momentum at Tui AG (LON:TUIT).
The FT said the government had decided to implement a “Plan B” of further restrictions, including requiring vaccine passports for large venues and an order to work from home, with the paper citing three senior Whitehall officials.
Domestic travel shares were lower, too, with bus and train operators The Go-Ahead Group PLC (LON:GOG) and National Express Group (LON:NEX) dropping 5%. Britain’s FTSE 250 erased an earlier gain of as much as 0.6%.
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