MONDAY MARKET CLOSE: Travel firms gain after Ebola retreat

British Airways owner IAG was boosted by news that Nigeria had been declared Ebola-free. Picture: Getty

British Airways owner IAG was boosted by news that Nigeria had been declared Ebola-free and a note from broker Liberum naming it a “top pick” after fears about the disease cheapened airline stocks in recent weeks.

Its shares added more than 3 per cent, up 11p to 361.4, while Tui Travel and InterContinental Hotels were also on the blue chip risers’ board.

Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said: “Falling oil prices are also helping many of these stocks as big consumers, but clearly there are losers here too – Shell’s 2.3 per cent loss equates to around £3.5 billion in terms of market capitalisation.

“Had the oil giant not taken such a beating, the headline index would be looking very different at the close.”

InterContinental Hotels was the biggest riser, up 4.3 per cent at 2,249p, while Tui added 3 per cent at 349.2p.

But with no respite from falling oil markets, Shell was 50p cheaper at 2,099p, and BP slipped 6.6p to 421.9p. The biggest faller was BG Group, down 40.5p or almost 3 per cent at 1,024.5p. With mining stocks also weighing ahead of growth figures from China, the FTSE 100 Index gave up its recent recovery momentum and dropped 43.22 points at 6,267.07.

There was some rare good news for Tesco’s long-suffering shareholders as Britain’s largest grocer was lifted by a number of reports in weekend newspapers. The stock added 4.75p to 179.3p as articles suggested its profit misguidance issue was behind it and highlighted a possible lucrative sale of its Asian business.

Rival Sainsbury’s was 2.1p lower at 242.7p as retail analyst Nick Bubb suggested the company may unveil a rights issue at its next results statement.