The British stock exchange was clearly lower on Friday. Concerns about the effects of the corona pandemic on the global economy and operating results weighed on sentiment. Trading volumes were also rather low, as the other leading European stock exchanges were closed due to Labor Day.

After a few minutes of trading, the FTSE 100 was 2.2 percent in the min. In London, investors are looking at Shell, among other things, which has suffered a number of write-offs. When the quarterly figures were presented, the oil and gas company announced that it would reduce the quarterly dividend. That was the first time since World War II. Shell fell 4.6 percent.

Ryanair (minus 3.9 percent) was also in the spotlight. The airline said it expects losses in both the first and second quarters and plans to fire up to 3,000 employees because of the corona crisis. Royal Bank of Scotland opened the books and set aside £ 800 million for bad loans. The share won 3.1 percent.

The euro was worth $ 1.0966 against $ 1.0953 a day earlier. A barrel of American oil was worth $ 1.2 more at $ 19.07, a barrel of Brent oil was 0.2 percent more expensive at $ 26.53.

On Thursday, the other European stock markets entered the long weekend with losses. The AEX index ended 2.7 percent lower at 512.92 points. For the MidKap there was still a small plus, from 0.4 percent to 728.98 points.