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UK stocks opened lower on Monday, even as local restaurants, bars and other non-essential businesses began to reopen, as jitters remain globally about rising bond yields and lofty stock valuations.
At 0819, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 16.29 points, or 0.2%, at 6,899.46.
Shopping centre owner Hammerson climed 1.4% to 37.92p, having confirmed press speculation that it was in talks about a possible sale of its retail parks portfolio to Brookfield.
Pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca edged back 3.42p to £72.8358 after it said its diabetes drug Farxiga did not improve the condition of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 in a clinical trial.
Mining giant BHP fell 0.6% to £21.3747 on confirming that its Samarco joint venture in Brazil with Vale had filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to agree terms on a debt restructure.
The joint venture is facing legal action following the collapse of a tailings dam in 2015 that killed 19 people and polluted waterways.
Tobacco giant Imperial Brands added 0.7% to £15.52 on announcing that Lukas Paravicini would join as chief financial officer earlier than expected, on 19 May.
Freight manager Xpediator rallied 5.7% to 60p as it hiked its divided on the back of an 81% rise in annual profit, and said it had performed ahead of expectations in the 2021 first quarter.
Xpediator declared a full-year dividend of 1.5p per share, up 13% year-on-year.
German business park investor Sirius Real Estate eased back 0.1% to 93.8p, even as its annual rent roll had risen 7.6% and that it had collected more than 98% of rent due for the year.
Student accommodation provider Unite fell 0.5% to £10.785 on announcing that 73% of rooms were now reserved for the 2021/22 academic year across its entire portfolio.
Unite said the deficit in sales to the prior year was continuing to narrow over recent weeks.
Brake-disc manufacturer Surface Transforms reversed 1.4% to 72p, having booked a full-year loss after spending on research & development offset a broadly flat revenue performance.
Surface Transforms said it was targeting a full-year profit in 2022.
Flooring manufacturer Victoria firmed 4.4% to 918.5p on guiding for modest rise in annual adjusted earnings underpinned by a boost in sales.
Ingredients supplier Treatt shed 0.2% to 956.5p even as it said it expected to grow its first-half revenue by 14%, while also achieving an improvement in margins.
Broadcast market equipment supplier The Vitec Group gained 4.4% to £12.00 after it acquired two separate companies, Lightstream and Quasar, for up to $42 million (£30.4 million).
At 8:29am:
(LON:AZN) Astrazeneca PLC share price was 0p at 8633p
(LON:BHP) Bhp Group PLC share price was 0p at 1630.6p
(LON:HMSO) Hammerson PLC share price was 0p at 23.05p
(LON:VCP) Victoria PLC share price was 0p at 437.5p
(LON:XPD) Xpediator Plc share price was 0p at 24.5p