LONDON: British stocks fell at the open on Monday, with financials leading declines, while shares of Ocado jumped after a deal to settle all litigation claims with Norwegian firm AutoStore.
By 0712 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 lost 0.3%, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index fell 0.2%. Ocado Group jumped 9.1% after the online supermarket group and Norwegian robotics firm AutoStore reached a deal to settle patent litigation claims.
UK banks fell 1.1% after gaining over 4% last week. Prudential slipped 1.7% following Citigroup's cut in its price target. The travel and leisure sector, which houses UK's major airline firms, lost 0.7% after industry bellwether Ryanair struck a cautious tone about travel demand for the rest of the year.
Vodafone Group rose 3.6% after the telecoms group reported an acceleration in first-quarter revenue growth and said it appointed former SAP CFO Luka Mucic as its new finance chief.