FTSE 100 movers: Housebuilders rally but Vodafone hit by downgrade

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.7% to 7,513.39 in afternoon trade on Thursday.

Ocado was the standout gainer, bouncing back from losses in the previous session on news that a Bahamas-based trust backed by its chief executive Tim Steiner had sold almost £51m of shares in the online grocer.

Housebuilder Barratt Developments was up as Deutsche Bank highlighted the buy-rated stock as one of its top picks in a broader note on the sector.

Peer Taylor Wimpey, which DB also rates at 'buy', was also on the front foot, with traders pointing to a boost for the sector from news that the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor Group wants to create a portfolio of 30,000 homes over the next five years, which is more than three times its current residential pipeline.

Vodafone was in the red after agreeing to merge its loss-making Australian mobile joint venture with broadband provider TPG Telecom in a deal valuing the combined company at about AUD15bn (£8.4bn).

The drop in the share price was most likely due to a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The bank said near-term catalysts are negative and that EBITDA guidance is at risk from competitive pressures in Spain and Italy, currency depreciation in Turkey and higher-than-expected spectrum costs.

Elsewhere, St James's Place was on the back foot as its stock went ex-dividend.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,086.00p 2.21%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 170.00p 0.80%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 545.00p 0.66%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 333.50p 0.45%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,549.00p 0.43%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,596.00p 0.35%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 731.80p 0.33%
Prudential (PRU) 1,750.50p 0.32%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 258.80p 0.31%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 4,647.00p 0.28%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 168.44p -2.60%
BT Group (BT.A) 217.25p -2.38%
Royal Mail (RMG) 453.43p -2.34%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,127.50p -2.30%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 921.00p -1.97%
WPP (WPP) 1,272.00p -1.93%
Informa (INF) 766.20p -1.90%
Fresnillo (FRES) 917.80p -1.80%
Tesco (TSCO) 245.50p -1.76%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 327.80p -1.65%