FTSE 100 movers: Royal Mail rallies but Paddy Power hit by downgrade
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,608.88 in afternoon trade on Tuesday as investors digested the latest round of UK jobs data.
Micro Focus was the standout gainer as it bounced back from losses in the previous session on the back of a Credit Suisse downgrade.
Hargreaves Lansdown was also recovering from losses on Monday, when it slumped after the Financial Conduct Authority said it was considering banning investment platforms from charging exit fees.
Royal Mail was a high riser as after it warned that annual addressed letter volumes would decline more than expected due to the impact of the GDPR, but said trading in the first quarter was in line with its expectations.
Housebuilder Berkeley Group rallied following a well-received update from FTSE 250 peer Galliford Try, while Rio Tinto ticked higher after saying it enjoyed strong second-quarter production across most of its commodities and business units.
On the downside, bookie Paddy Power Betfair retreated after Investec downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 8,010p from 8,570p, saying it was revisiting the investment case to explore the US opportunity in detail.
"While Paddy Power Betfair has significant first mover advantage in the US, we caution that, especially post the recent re-rating, it is very much a long-term value driven strategy."
The brokerage said Paddy looks expensive versus its two key peers, GVC and William Hill on a fully adjusted EV/EBITDA, price-to-earnings and free cash flow yield basis.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,275.00p 2.70%
Royal Mail (RMG) 492.70p 2.48%
Just Eat (JE.) 862.60p 1.75%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 954.00p 1.71%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 2,052.60p 1.66%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,069.00p 1.62%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,064.00p 1.43%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,645.00p 1.42%
Evraz (EVR) 521.40p 1.40%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,836.00p 1.35%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
WPP (WPP) 1,180.50p -2.92%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,300.00p -2.35%
BT Group (BT.A) 217.20p -1.94%
Centrica (CNA) 154.95p -1.62%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,809.50p -1.54%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,871.50p -1.24%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 667.40p -1.17%
Barclays (BARC) 189.36p -1.13%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,829.50p -1.11%
CRH (CRH) 2,689.00p -1.07%