FTSE 100 movers: Ferguson rallies on results but Coca-Cola loses ground
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.3% to 7,460.15 in afternoon trade on Tuesday as the pound dipped after disappointing construction data.
Ferguson, formerly Wolseley, was the standout gainer after it proposed a 10% dividend increase and announced a £500m share buyback, following a year of strong profits growth.
Sainsburys rallied as Berenberg initiated coverage of the stock at 'buy' with a 300p price target. It argued that after years of superior performance, Sainsbury’s like-for-like sales have lagged peers over the past few quarters, mostly due to transitory factors, which are imminently dissipating.
"Sainsbury is also our top pick over the inflationary cycle, which we believe is underestimated by the market. A combination of these two effects should drive a performance reversal over the coming months and we already see early evidence of this playing out."
Anglo American was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at HSBC following recent weakness in the share price. HSBC said that along with Glencore, it was its top pick in the sector.
Going the other way, Coca-Cola HBC was weaker after announced the passing of its chief executive Dimitris Lois. The company said Michalis Imellos would continue in the role of acting CEO, and further announcements would be made in due course.
Shares in WPP fell after Morgan Stanley placed 22.5m shares in the advertising agency on behalf of Bain Capital at 1,350p via an accelerated bookbuild.
BAE Systems was hit by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Berenberg, which said there is little room for growth in the next two years. Following a meeting with the management team, analysts said the absence of a firm export order for the company's Typhoon programme was a key factor in the downgrade.
Risers
Ferguson (FERG) 5,075.00p 4.34%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 244.90p 2.17%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,386.50p 1.69%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,262.00p 1.68%
3i Group (III) 933.00p 1.63%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 917.50p 1.61%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,298.00p 1.41%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 765.50p 1.36%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,816.00p 1.34%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,885.00p 1.28%
Fallers
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,490.00p -2.62%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,796.00p -2.07%
WPP (WPP) 1,365.00p -2.01%
BAE Systems (BA.) 620.00p -1.67%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,382.00p -1.45%
BT Group (BT.A) 280.00p -1.11%
Aviva (AV.) 506.00p -0.98%
Prudential (PRU) 1,790.50p -0.97%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,726.00p -0.94%
SSE (SSE) 1,413.00p -0.84%