FTSE 100 movers: Berkeley boosted by upgrade; NMC slumps

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.9% at 7,449.53 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Betfair and Paddy Power operator Flutter Entertainment was the standout gainer a day after saying that Australian regulators had approved its merger with Canadian poker company The Stars Group.

Berkeley Group was on the rise as HSBC upped its rating on the stock to ‘buy’ and said it now has ‘buy’ ratings on all nine listed housebuilders under coverage.

"The decisive general election result has brought the prospect of a final settlement of Brexit closer and unleashed pent-up demand in housing activity that we are forecasting to induce a full year 2020 3% rise in UK-wide new home sales reservations," it said.

The bank upgraded Berkeley from ‘hold’ and hiked the price target to 6,620p from 4,540p, saying it’ set to deliver the second-highest return on invested capital in the sector.

British Gas owner Centrica was higher after an upgrade at Investec.

On the downside, NMC Health slid after Czech shareholder and activist investor Krupa Global Investments (KGI) said it would not be taking a strategic stake in the UAE healthcare provider.

KGI said that following the resignations of founder and non-executive chairman B.R. Shetty and vice chairman Khalifa Butti Omeir Bin Yousef, "the current situation" is not in line with its strategy to take a significant stake in NMC.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 8,864.00p 2.85%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,325.00p 2.71%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 5,500.00p 2.57%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 654.50p 2.51%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,158.50p 2.48%
Centrica (CNA) 75.46p 2.44%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,061.50p 2.41%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 8,532.00p 2.18%
Evraz (EVR) 384.50p 1.94%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 328.40p 1.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

NMC Health (NMC) 786.00p -6.89%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 661.60p -1.99%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 572.80p -0.73%
Carnival (CCL) 3,063.00p -0.65%
Meggitt (MGGT) 629.40p -0.60%
Aviva (AV.) 406.90p -0.56%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,515.00p -0.46%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 628.00p -0.41%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 206.00p -0.39%
BT Group (BT.A) 155.40p -0.27%