Tui and IAG lead FTSE fallers after Tunisia attack and Greek crisis

With markets around the world tumbling, travel companies are among the worst performers in the wake of the Tunisian attacks and the escalation of the Greek crisis.

Tour operators have been evacuating tourists from Tunisia after a gunman killed 39 people in a beach attack claimed by Islamic state.

Tui, whose subsidiaries Thomson and First Choice had around 6,400 customers across Tunisia at the time, has fallen 73p or 6.5% to £10.40.

Meanwhile with Greece seemingly on the way to defaulting after dramatic events over the weekend and banks shut for a week, there are worries about the effects of the crisis on holidaymakers’ plans.

British Airways owner International Airlines Group is down 17p at 497.5p. EasyJet is 35p lower at £15.42. Panmure Gordon analyst Gert Zonneveld said easyJet was well placed with only 3% of its business related to Greece and a minimal amount to Tunisia. As for Tui, he said it had 3% of its business in Tunisia and 10% in Greece.

Elsewhere Dixons Carphone, with operations in Greece, is down 11.2p at 454.5p and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling is 33p lower at £13.96.

Banking shares are also under pressure, with Barclays down 5.4p at 266.95p and HSBC down 11p at 578.9p.

Overall the FTSE 100 is currently down 95.90 points at 6657.80, although it is off its worst levels of 6598. The eurozone crisis entered a new phase over the weekend after Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum on the proposals from the country’s creditors, the Eurogroup refused a bailout extension, the European Central Bank did not raise the cap on its emergency liquidity assistance for Greek banks, and a bank holiday was declared.

European markets have been worse hit, with Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac both down 3%.

Investors are also nervous about the Chinese market, which is in bear market territory despite the central bank cutting interest rates over the weekend.

Among the few FTSE 100 gains were precious metal miners as investors sought havens amid the turmoi. Randgold Resources has risen 47p to £44.21 while Fresnillo is 2.5p better at 700.5p.

But UBS remained positive about the outlook:

We believe staying invested in eurozone equities through this period will prove the correct path, and we maintain our overweight position in eurozone equities. Over our six-month investment horizon, European Central Bank action should mitigate contagion effects to other markets or economies in case of a Greek exit. In our base case, investors should see a sell-off in European equities around this referendum as a buying opportunity.