FTSE 100 movers: Airline shares down after Barcelona attack; Upgrade boost for Mondi, RSA

The Barcelona attack and disintegrating relationship between US President Donald Trump and the business community made for a very heavy splash of red among the Footsie on Friday.

Initially leading the fallers were British Airways and Iberia owner IAG and EasyJet as both shed 3% in early trading before paring losses.

"As we’ve seen over the last couple of years in Europe, these kinds of atrocities affect tourism and will hit airline earnings. Investors are concerned that demand will fall over the rest of the year, which was already looking like it would be a tough patch for the industry," said analyst Neil Wilson at ETX Capital.

The stock leaderboard was topped by precious metals miners Randgold Resources and Rio Tinto. The risk-off trading sentiment and the softening US yield environment is conducive for gold, analysts noted, with the Federal Reserve’s indecision having removed a major barrier to the positive gold trend.

Gold was up half a percent to trade close to $1,300, with analyst Craig Erlam noting there seemed to be a number of factors driving the bullish case for the yellow metal: a weak dollar, US political risk, geopolitical risk. He said the resignation of Gary Cohn, a key figurehead in Trump’s tax reform and spending initiatives, could be the straw that breaks the camels back and drives it through $1,300.

Mondi and RSA Insurance were also two of the few risers after their shares received broker upgrades. Paper maker Mondi was lifted to 'buy' from 'neutral' by Citi, where analysts hiked their target price to 2,580p from 2120p. RSA was moved to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' by RBC Capital Markets, which hoisted the target to 750p from 625p.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,316.18 -0.97%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 295.50p 1.20%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,080.00p 0.92%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,460.00p 0.74%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 653.00p 0.54%
SSE (SSE) 1,439.00p 0.21%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,431.50p 0.06%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,265.00p -2.81%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 819.50p -2.44%
Provident Financial (PFG) 1,846.00p -2.28%
DCC (DCC) 6,800.00p -2.23%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,787.00p -2.17%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,005.00p -1.76%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,168.50p -1.75%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 253.80p -1.67%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,540.00p -1.66%
ITV (ITV) 166.60p -1.65%