FTSE 100 movers: Fresnillo shines as investors shun risk; ITV drops
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,349.28 in afternoon trade on Friday, with Middle East tensions and weak Chinese data weighing on sentiment.
Broadcaster ITV lost ground, with traders pointing to rumours of a credit rating downgrade.
Tesco was also on the back foot ahead of a capital markets day on Tuesday.
Shore Capital said in a note: "Tesco appears to be broadly following Morrisons with its capital allocation strategy. Our forecasts point to sustainably strengthening solvency ratios which, in the absence of material M&A or a detour from current capital expenditure bands (£1.1bn to £1.4bn), leads us to expect the announcement of ongoing shareholder-friendly initiatives within the forthcoming 12-18 months.
"Depending on the prevailing valuation, this could involve a notable share buy-back and/or special dividends (potentially up to 13% of the current market cap by end FY2022F, 23% including ordinary dividend payments)."
Going the other way, shares in precious metals miner Fresnillo shone as gold prices rallied to a 14-month high on the back of the yellow metal's safe-haven appeal.
United Utilities was in the green as it announced that Steve Fraser was stepping down as chief operating officer after more than 14 years at the company.
Fraser, who has been appointed as chief executive of Cadent Gas, will leave United Utilities late this year, on a date to be confirmed.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 838.20p 3.18%
National Grid (NG.) 833.70p 1.86%
Relx plc (REL) 1,909.50p 1.54%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,910.50p 1.46%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,659.00p 1.34%
BAE Systems (BA.) 486.90p 0.91%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 6,246.00p 0.84%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,050.00p 0.79%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 829.80p 0.73%
Evraz (EVR) 693.60p 0.67%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
ITV (ITV) 105.32p -4.25%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 558.20p -3.79%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 350.20p -2.94%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 169.85p -2.61%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,298.00p -2.54%
Pearson (PSON) 789.60p -2.49%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,517.00p -2.44%
Tesco (TSCO) 223.90p -2.44%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,468.00p -2.13%
BT Group (BT.A) 205.50p -1.91%