UPDATE 2-London stocks dip as Spain quarantine hits travel shares

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news window)
* IAG falls 5.9%; TUI, easyJet lead declines on mid-cap
index
* U.S.-China friction, surging COVID-19 cases dent risk
demand
* Miners up as gold hits record high, copper prices rise
* Antofagasta climbs on report of deal with Chile union
* FTSE 100 down 0.3%, FTSE 250 off 0.6%

(Updates to close)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Susan Mathew
July 27 (Reuters) - UK shares slipped on Monday as a
two-week quarantine on all travellers from Spain hammered travel
and leisure stocks, while a rally in miners helped the blue-chip
index cut some session losses.
A 5.9% plunge for British Airways-owner IAG ICAG.L saw the
stock mark its worst day in a month, while London-listed shares
of Europe's biggest holiday company, TUI AG TUIT.L , tumbled
11.4% after it decided to cancel all holidays to mainland Spain
through Aug. 9. EasyJet EZJ.L and Carnival CCl.L were also among the
biggest decliners on the FTSE 250, with the wider travel and
leisure sector .FTNMX5750 losing 2.9%.
The mid-cap index .FTMC was off 0.6% with Britain saying
it is also closely watching rises in coronavirus cases in other
European destinations such as France and Germany. "(This) raises the potential for earnings estimates to be
downgraded once again for travel-related industries ... and
effectively derails their strategy for clawing back some of the
losses experienced earlier this year," said Russ Mould,
investment director at AJ Bell.
With the relentless surge in global coronavirus infections
raising the spectre of another round of lockdowns, investors are
betting on more government and central bank stimulus to blunt
the business damage from the pandemic.
Simmering U.S.-China tensions also sparked a flight from
risk assets.
Asia-focused lenders HSBC HSBA.L and Standard Chartered
STAN.L fell 3.2% and 1.2%, respectively, after China took over
the premises of the U.S. consulate in the city of Chengdu on
Monday, after ordering that the facility be vacated in
retaliation for China's ouster last week from its consulate in
Houston. But the blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE , which fell as much
as 0.6%, closed down 0.3%, as miners .FTNMX1770 rallied after
gold prices scaled all-time highs, while copper prices also
rose. GOL/ MET/L
Antofagasta ANTO.L climbed 3.6% after a contract deal with
a workers' union at its Zaldivar copper mine in Chile averted
the risk of a walk-off. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Travel and leisure stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/2P10lSV
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