By Catherine Reynolds
Investing.com – U.K. fashion retailers took a pummelling in London on Monday amid fears that Boris Johnson’s government will impose another lockdown on the country to stop the latest wave of Covid-19 infections.
THG Holdings (LON:THG) took the biggest hit, falling 5.4%. Upmarket bagmaker Mulberry (LON:MUL) fell 5.2% and Superdry (LON:SDRY) fell 3.1%.
Meanwhile Ted Baker (LON:TED) stock was down 2.8% and Quiz (LON:QUIZ) stock fell 2.7%.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the U.K. is facing a “tidal wave” of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, which has quickly spread to account for around 40% of cases in London, according to reports. Johnson announced an ambitious booster jab campaign on Sunday, in reaction to early data showing that existing vaccines lose much of their effectiveness against the variant unless a third dose is administered.
Johnson's government faces a critical vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday over its “Plan B” to deal with the surging variant, which stopped short of mandatory restrictions on socializing, shopping and office attendance,
Scientists have warned that the plan, which mandates the wearing of face masks in public places, did not go far enough.
While fears of another lockdown propelled some fashion retailers down, online fashion retailers fared markedly better. ASOS (LON:ASOS) and Joules (LON:JOUL), two disproportionately online fashion names, outperformed the market, with Joules up 2.7% and Asos up 0.9%.