Friday was a gruesome day for UK shareholders, after the FTSE 100 index dived 3.6% on the day. Earlier in the week, the Footsie had pulled ahead by 1.2%, only to end the week 2.5% down. As a result of this mini-meltdown, the Footsie is now only 9% up in 2021. Meanwhile, the US S&P 500 index has shot up by 22.3% this calendar year.
FTSE 100: weekly winners and losers
Of course, few of the FTSE 100’s total of 101 stocks (one company is dual-listed) move exactly in line with the wider index. Indeed, several stocks made decent gains this week. For the record, a total of 21 Footsie shares rose over the past five trading days. These weekly gains ranged from a high of 6.1% to a mere 0.1%. The average rise across all 21 winners was 2.4%.
At the other end of the scale lie the FTSE 100’s laggards, a total of 80 losing stocks. Declines among this week’s losers ranged from just below 0.1% to a whopping 14.9%. The average weekly loss across all 80 losers was 5.2%. What’s more, 10 Footsie stocks suffered double-digit weekly declines, ranging from over 10% to almost 15%. Ouch.
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The Footsie’s five biggest losers of the week
These five FTSE 100 stocks suffered the largest declines in value in the trading week ending Friday, 26 November.
| Ranking/Company | Sector | Week’s fall |
| #97. Entain | Gambling & betting | -11.6% |
| #98. ITV | Broadcaster/Producer | -12.9% |
| #99. Melrose Industries | Engineering | -13.5% |
| #100. Rolls-Royce Holdings | Aerospace | -14.1% |
| #101. International Consolidated Airlines Group | Airlines | -14.9% |
As you can see, weekly losses among the FTSE 100’s biggest fallers range from 11.6% to 14.9%. The week’s biggest loser, in 101st place, was International Consolidated Airlines Group, owner of British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus airlines. In 100th place was Rolls-Royce Holdings, a major supplier of engines to airlines. Another hard-hit engineering conglomerate, Melrose Industries, took 99th place. In 98th place was ITV, broadcaster and producer of such hit TV shows as Love Island. And ranked 97th is Entain, which owns betting brands such as bwin, Coral, Ladbrokes and PartyPoker.
Which of these losers would I buy today?
I own none of these five FTSE 100 fallers today. And for now, I’d steer clear of stocks in the travel & leisure, aerospace, and engineering sectors. The recent discovery of a new variant of Covid-19 (named Omicron) may increase the risk of global lockdowns and fresh social restrictions. In this scenario, passenger air miles could slump again, hitting IAG and Rolls-Royce hard. Melrose might also find its shares under pressure if this new variant is more transmissible or vaccine-resistant than previous strains.
Hence, in a toss-up between Entain and ITV, I’d buy the latter. This FTSE 100 media stock has fallen 15.4% over six months and is ahead just 1.7% over one year. Over the past 12 months, the ITV share price has ranged from a low of 91p a year ago to 134.15p on 14 June. On Friday, this stock closed at 108.6p, down 8.3p on the day (-7.1%). This values the group at under £4.4bn — a price tag that would be a mere snip for a rival media mega-firm. What’s more, ITV shares look cheap to me, valued at just 12 times earnings. Thus, I’d buy ITV today, while fully expecting the stock to stay volatile in 2021-22!
