The best and worst performing shares on the FTSE 100 since the Covid crash

Next weekend will mark the one-year anniversary of the stock market crash which saw the FTSE 100 plunge from 7,403.92 on 21 February 2020 to a low of 4,993.89 on 23 March 2020. 

Analysts at AJ Bell have crunched the numbers to calculate the best and worst performing stocks on the FTSE since, broken down into pre- and post-vaccine development - the day in November nicknamed Pfizer Monday when everything changed.

The biggest gainers pre-vaccine include online and value retail shops like AO World and B&M, spread betting service providers and bookmakers, alongside the providers of life’s essentials - especially those with a decent website and the option to deliver to your door.

The biggest faller was retail landlord Hammerson, down 77% in the period, as lockdown sent the high street and almost everything in it over a cliff. Travel firms, cinemas and leisure operators also suffered as the world went into hibernation.

News of a working vaccine, announced by Pfizer on November 9, saw a turnaround in the markets with those leisure and travel stocks such as Cineworld, FirstGroup and SSP leading the way on the back of hopes of a return to normality.

How long they can hold on for remains to be seen - with the threat of looming inflation that could turn everything on its head once again with a rush to commodities, developing markets and gold.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell,  said:  “It seems remarkable now just how relaxed financial markets were during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreakbut confidence ebbed rapidly from late February onwards once they grasped the gravity of the situation. 

“Share prices plunged for a month and even though some found their footing, plenty of others in the worst-affected industries just kept falling, in the view that their fortunes may never be the same again.

“Yet the picture has changed again since ‘Pfizer Monday’ in early November. Investors seem more optimistic, perceived pandemic and lockdown winners have begun to lose momentum and potential recovery plays have begun to gain.

“Laggards have included airlines, retail store landlords, travel agents, travel companies and bingo hall specialists such as easyJet, Hammerson, TUI, Carnival and Rank, all of whom will now be waiting to see when and to what degree demand for their products and services returns even in a post-pandemic world.

 “As is always the way, markets have switched from greed to fear and then from fear to greed. "