FTSE 100 movers: Ashtead in the red; banks rally

London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 7,207.78 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Online supermarket Ocado was the biggest loser on the index, while B&P owner Kingfisher also suffered sharp falls.

Equipment rental company Ashtead fell despite saying it had delivered a record full year, with both revenue and profits up following a solid fourth-quarter.

Going the other way, banks were on the front foot amid the prospect of higher interest rates, with Standard Chartered, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest all up.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said HSBC and StanChart were higher after a decent session from their Hong Kong listed shares, after a report from KPMG which said that Hong Kong banks are likely to see their revenues rise in 2022, due to improved interest margins.

"This is particularly good news for HSBC which has very thin margins," he said.

ITV was in the black after the broadcaster said it had agreed to buy a majority interest in Plimsoll Productions, the largest independent producer of natural history programmes in the world, for £103.5m in cash.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 599.80p 3.52%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 518.90p 3.18%
BP (BP.) 436.55p 2.40%
Fresnillo (FRES) 808.60p 2.35%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 88.03p 2.16%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 43.72p 2.09%
ITV (ITV) 68.72p 1.99%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 155.15p 1.60%
Glencore (GLEN) 488.70p 1.54%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 222.20p 1.46%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 808.00p -8.18%
Kingfisher (KGF) 235.00p -4.32%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 3,649.00p -4.07%
SSE (SSE) 1,649.00p -3.48%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,980.00p -3.42%
Halma (HLMA) 1,939.50p -3.12%
Next (NXT) 5,898.00p -3.09%
Experian (EXPN) 2,309.00p -2.90%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,793.00p -2.62%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,031.50p -2.60%