UK shares slump as Heathrow shutdown disrupts airline stocks

(Reuters) - UK shares fell on Friday, with travel and leisure stocks sliding as a major power outage at Heathrow Airport caused widespread travel disruptions.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.46%, but remained on track to clock a slight gain this week after two consecutive weeks of losses.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 index declined 0.47%, set to end the week little changed after four straight weekly declines.

Britain’s Heathrow Airport was shut after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation knocked out its power, disrupting flight schedules around the world.

British Airways-owner IAG fell 1%. British Airways, the biggest carrier at Heathrow, had 341 flights scheduled to operate at Heathrow on the day. Other carriers including Wizz Air and EasyJet were down between 1.5% and 2%.

Holiday Inn-owner IHG was also among the top losers on the blue-chip index, down 2.7%.

Overall, the travel and leisure sector slid 1.7%.

Among other movers, sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion (LON:JD) dropped 4.3% following Nike (NYSE:NKE)’s bleak fourth-quarter revenue outlook.

J D Wetherspoon (LON:JDW) tumbled 9%, the most on the mid-cap index, after the pub group’s weak interim profit and bleak economic outlook.

John Wood Group (LON:WG) fell 3.8% after Jefferies downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy".

On the flip side, fashion retailer ASOS (LON:ASOS) soared nearly 25% after it forecast significant improvement in first-half profitability.

On the radar for next week is inflation data and the government’s half-yearly budget update.

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