FTSE 100 movers: DS Smith gains; Whitbread hit by downgrade
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,433.21 in afternoon trade on Monday, with investors reluctant to make any bold moves amid lingering concerns about Sino-US trade relations.
Imperial Brands was the standout gainer, having suffered heavy losses last week on the back of a profit warning. The stock was also boosted after executive Richard Hill bought shares in the tobacco company.
DS Smith rose after the Competition and Markets Authority said it will not refer the acquisition of the packaging company’s rigid and flexible plastic packaging business by US-based Liqui-Box for a phase 2 investigation.
The CMA said it had accepted Liqui-Box’s undertakings, which include the divestment of its Bag-in-Box business.
GlaxoSmithKline was in the green as it said a late-stage study in cancer patients showed that its maintenance therapy for a form of ovarian cancer reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 38%.
On the downside, Whitbread was under pressure after Barclays downgraded its stance on shares of the Premier Inn owner to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’.
The bank, which cut its price target on the stock to 4,350p from 4,700p, said: "Weighing up the positives and negatives alongside the utter lack of visibility around Brexit, we cut to EW and see more downside than upside risks currently, especially into H1 results."
FTSE 100 - Risers
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,822.80p 2.72%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 754.40p 2.47%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,335.50p 2.38%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,133.00p 2.35%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 361.60p 2.12%
WPP (WPP) 1,018.50p 1.91%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,992.42p 1.61%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,750.00p 1.45%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 2,106.00p 1.40%
Centrica (CNA) 74.24p 1.06%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Whitbread (WTB) 4,280.00p -4.19%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,341.00p -4.01%
Fresnillo (FRES) 681.60p -3.04%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,726.20p -1.63%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,484.00p -1.33%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,286.00p -1.31%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,380.50p -1.16%
3i Group (III) 1,172.00p -1.06%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,745.00p -0.97%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,668.00p -0.97%