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UK stocks opened down more than 1% on Monday as so-called Freedom Day to mark the end of Covid-19 restrictions was marred by surging infection rates of the Delta variant at home and abroad.
At 0820, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 86.92 points, or 1.2%, at 6.921,17.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the easing of restrictions from self-isolation following news that health minister Sajid Javid had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Plastics producer Synthomer fell 0.5% to 500.12p, despite upgrading its annual earnings guidance amid strong demand for latex during the pandemic.
Synthomer's first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was expected to be around £320 million, the company said in a trading update.
Defence contractor Ultra Electronics lost 1.1% to £23.40, even as it posted a 55% rise in first-half profit, citing robust demand in its core markets of defence and critical detection.
Ultra Electronics declared an interim dividend of 16.2p per share, up 5.2% year-on-year.
Specialist recruitment company SThree fell 0.4% to 468p, despite upgrading its annual guidance after its its first-half profit more than doubled, thanks to better market conditions and elevated contractor working hours.
SThree's pre-tax profit for the six months through May increased to £27.7 million, up from £13.6 million year-on-year, with the full-year results expected to be ahead of current market consensus expectations.
Investment group Pershing Square slid 1.9% to £25.60 said it had dropped a bid to acquire 10% of Vivideni's Universal Music.
Pershing Square said its board unanimously determined not to proceed, due to issues raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission about the deal, including whether it complied with listing rules.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca fell 1.1% to £82.45 even following news that its drug to treat extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer had been approved in China.
Gambling group Flutter Entertainment reversed 1.4% to £12.010 after it completed a debt re-financing transaction that it said would reduce its cost of debt and provide it with additional liquidity.
Advertising company S4 Capital added 0.2% to 658p, buoyed by news that it had engaged lenders to arrange a €375 million term loan, in addition to a £100 million revolving credit facility.
In a brief trading update, S4 Capital also said its like-for-like revenue and gross profit growth were continuing at levels beyond expectations.
Agriculture and engineering group Carr's advanced 0.8% to 150.71p on announcing that its performance for the full year was expected to be 'moderately' ahead of it expectations.
Logistics play DX climbed 4.7% to 33.5p, having also upgraded its profit forecast for the year.
Gold miner Shanta Gold sank 19% to 13p after it downgraded output guidance, due to lower-than-anticipated grades from underground mining.