MARKET REPORT: Boom in online shopping here to stay thisismoney.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisismoney.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BHP will pay shareholders a record half-year dividend of 72p per share after a rally in iron ore prices helped profits rise 17 per cent to £7bn. It means the company, will hand out £3.7bn in total.
MARKET REPORT: Mining investors strike gold as dividends surge dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Airline and other travel businesses had been desperately hoping that the rollout of vaccines might prompt a trickle of holidaymakers to go abroad this spring, building up to a better summer.
But it was a bruising day for the likes of Easyjet (down 4.5 per cent, or 37.2p, to 788p), British Airways-owner IAG (down 3.3 per cent, or 5.3p, to 153.9p), Ryanair (down 3 per cent, or 50 cents, to €15.20), Jet2 (down 3.7 per cent, or 54p, to 1390p) and Tui (which fell 4 per cent, or 13.3p, to 318p).
Stock Watch - Emmerson
Fertiliser miner Emmerson reached a major milestone after Morocco gave it permission to start digging its huge potash project.
The world has been on high alert for weeks after three strains thought to be more contagious - and possibly more deadly - emerged from South Africa, Brazil and the UK.