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UK stocks fell modestly in early trading on Monday as the spread of more transmissible forms of the virus that causes Covid-19, both at home and abroad, temper global recovery hopes.
At 0827, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was had fallen 7.06 points, or around 0.1%, to 7,129.01.
Bakery chain Greggs reversed 0.4% to £25.49, even as the market darling upgraded its earnings guidance after enjoying a stronger-than-expected bounce back in demand since lockdowns eased.
Greggs said if 1-3% growth in like-for-like sales in recent weeks at company-managed shops continued, it would have a 'materially positive impact' on its expected financial result for the year.
Luxury fashion group Burberry dropped 6.8% to £20.96 on announcing that chief executive Marco Gobbetti would stand down at the end of 2021.
Gobbetti would leave after around five years at the helm, to take up another opportunity in Italy to be closer to his family. Burberry had begun a search for a new CEO.
Sports apparel purveyor JD Sports Fashion fell 0.6% to 946.8p following news that its half-owned Spanish unit had agreed to acquire 80% of online retailer Deporvillage for €140.4 million.
Manresa-based Deporvillage was an online-only retailer focused on the sale of specialist sports equipment principally for cycling, running and outdoor.
Mining group Glencore eased back 0.2% to 314.5p, having agreed to buy out BHP's and Anglo American's respective interests in the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia for around $588 million -- though the price was subject to potentially large adjustments on completion.
The deal had an economic effective date of 31 December 2021 and Glencore expected cash generated by the operation could cut the actual cost to around $230 million. Output at the mine would decline materially, it added, as the company gradually exits the coal business.
BHP was flat at £21.60 and Anglo American rose 0.1% to £29.70.
NatWest, formally known as Royal Bank of Scotland, edged back 0.1% to 207.5p following news that its Ulster Bank unit had agreed to sell the majority of its commercial lending portfolio to Allied Irish Banks.
The move was in line with NatWest's's plan announced in February to withdraw from Ireland and could result in a 'small gain' for the banks bottom line, it said.
Engineering play Wood Group rose 0.9% to 219.1p, having agreed to pay compensation and other penalties of a combined $177 million related to bribery and corruption allegations into its Amec Foster Wheeler unit.
The costs -- to be phased over the next three years-- were related to historical conduct that occurred before Amec acquired Foster Wheeler in November 2014 and the combined firm's acquisition by Wood in October 2017.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca firmed 0.6% to £85.53 after its Forxiga product was recommended for approval in the European Union for the treatment of chronic kidney disease in adults with and without type-2 diabetes.
Separately, AstraZeneca said a trial had demonstrated favourable safety and tolerability of nirsevimab compared to Synagis when given to infants at high risk of respiratory syncytial virus.
Outsourced services group Serco advanced 1.7% to 133.7p as it won an up to £322 million contract from the UK's Department of Health and Social Care to continue providing support services to Covid-19 test centres.
The contract, for test centres in England and Northern Ireland was for 12 months with an option to extend for a further six months. Its actual value could vary materially depending on demand.
Bottling group Coca-Cola HBC declined 0.2% to £26.77 after it agreed to acquire 30% of Italian coffee company Casa Del Caffe, for an undisclosed sum.
The companies also had entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for Caffe Vergnano's products in Coca-Cola HBC's territories outside of Italy.
Oil company Energean shed 0.9% to 761p as it signed a rig contract with Stena Drilling for its 2022-to-2023 drilling programme offshore Israel.
The campaign was expected to de-risk prospective recoverable resources of over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Escape room operator Escape Hunt added 3.9% to 40.5p after its revenue in the five weeks since lockdowns were lifted jumped 47% year-on-year.
Escape Hunt's UK owner-operated sites re-opened on 17 May following a pro-longed period of closure brought about by the UK Government's lockdown measures, introduced at the start of the year.
Brian health focused Cambridge Cognition jumped 9% to 149.9p on news that it had been selected as the cognitive assessment partner for a large at-home study in a contract worth £2.2 million.
The associated revenue was expected to be recognised by the company over three years beginning in the first half of 2021.