Market Report: UK suffers record 9.9% slump, Bubble Billionaire and Mode launch Bitcoin trading app

The Market Report with Katie Pilbeam. FTSE 100 slipped in early dealings as the severe impact of coronavirus on the UK economy was highlighted in official figures. London’s blue-chip index dropped 27 to 6,501. Britain’s economy shrank by a record 9.9% last year as coronavirus restrictions hit output, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  In December, the economy grew by 1.2%, after shrinking by 2.3% in November as lockdown was eased. lastminute.com faces legal action unless it refunds all money owed after cancelling holidays due to Covid-19, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. The online travel agent had promised to payback £7mln of refunds by the end of January, but £1mln is still outstanding said the watchdog. Dating app Bumble jumped to a value of more than US$13bn following its listing on Wall Street.  31-year-old boss and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is now a self-made female billionaire. Among the small caps, Bezant Resources PLC (LON:BZT) shares rose as it completed the acquisition of Metrock Resources. The copper-gold explorer now owns the Kanye Manganese Project in Botswana. FastForward Innovations Ltd (LON:FFWD) has expanded its exposure in the medicinal cannabis sector after investing in Little Green Pharma. The investor acquired a 0.9% stake in the Australian business for £560,000. Mode Global Holdings PLC (LON:MODE) has officially launched the Android version of its Bitcoin trading app, which is already available to Apple users. Customer numbers have rocketed 500% from August to December and it is ranked number two in the App Store's UK finance category.