FTSE 100 movers: Insurers rally on Esure bid; Turkey knocks stuffing out of Tui

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,646.62 in afternoon trade on Monday, off earlier lows but still in the red amid worries about Turkey.

Direct Line, Admiral and RSA were the top gainers as FTSE 250 peer Esure confirmed it has received an unsolicited proposal from private equity firm Bain Capital at 280p per share in cash.

The insurer is in the advanced stages of discussing the possible offer, which represents a premium of around 37% to the closing price of Esure on Friday and a 29% premium to the volume-weighted average price over the last three months.

The company, which put out a statement after its share price rose sharply in early trade, said that it has indicated to Bain that it would be minded to recommend a firm offer at such a price.

Despite the boost to other insurers, RBC Capital Markets argued that there is limited cross-over as the situation with Esure involves a motivated seller, a circumstance which it does not see at the other UK motor insurers.

Burberry Group rallied as Berenberg lifted its price target on the stock to 2,350p from 2,220p on the back of changes to its foreign exchange assumptions.

More specifically, the bank raised its forecasts for the fashion house's earnings per share by 4%, 5% and 5%, in fiscal years 2019-2021, respectively. Under a 'blue-sky' scenario, the re-branding might see the shares' 'fair value' rise as high as 3,000p, from 2,350p, they said.

BAE Systems was also on the front foot as Morgan Stanley bumped up the stock to 'overweight' from 'equalweight'.

"The defence spending backdrop is supportive, contract wins have improved visibility and we think earnings growth prospects are now higher than at any point in the last five years," it said.

On the downside, travel operator Tui suffered heavy losses due to its exposure to Turkey, while Paddy Power Betfair was under the cosh as Citi downgraded the bookie to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut the price target to 6,900p from 7,700p.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 327.50p 1.55%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,017.00p 1.51%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 634.00p 0.96%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,238.00p 0.86%
Aviva (AV.) 500.68p 0.58%
BP (BP.) 559.15p 0.57%
BT Group (BT.A) 226.18p 0.55%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,821.50p 0.49%
BAE Systems (BA.) 628.40p 0.45%
Rightmove (RMV) 4,917.00p 0.41%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,509.00p -3.61%
Kingfisher (KGF) 286.50p -2.58%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,093.83p -2.22%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 321.10p -1.77%
Royal Mail (RMG) 458.20p -1.61%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,603.00p -1.55%
ITV (ITV) 166.31p -1.50%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 298.10p -1.49%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,141.00p -1.43%
Next (NXT) 5,590.00p -1.38%