FTSE 100 movers: Glencore rebounds; Wolseley sinks lower

The FTSE 100 was down 40.21 points (0.67%) mid-afternoon to 5,918.65.

After a dismal day on Monday, Glencore led the market risers after Citigroup and Bernstein both said the market had exaggerated concerns about the company’s financial health.

It’s a big turnaround, after shares in the mining company fell to its lowest level since its 2011 IPO when Investec said on Monday that the company’s equity value is zero at current spot prices. Glencore’s plight has also been seen to help Rio Tinto’s share price rise.

Supermarkets were on the rise as well, after Bernstein reiterated its outperform rating on Tesco and Sainsbury ahead of Sainsbury’s trading update on Wednesday. Morrison (WM) Supermarkets also rose on the back of Deutsche Bank reiterating its hold rating for the company, and news it will give its workers a 20% pay rise.

Spooked by a mixed bag of financial results as well as the words “challenging market conditions”, traders were quick to sell shares in Wolseley. The building materials company saw double digit falls on Tuesday, similar to that of Glencore from Monday. Accendo Markets said it was a case of investors “demonstrating cold-bloodedness”.

And Imperial Tobacco Group dropped after Fitch reported the credit profiles of rated global tobacco companies has diverged in the past two years, as they worsened in Europe while remaining stable in the US. It said European tobacco companies' financial profile has deteriorated due to a number of reasons including mergers and acquisitions activity, foreign exchange headwinds, and profit margin compression despite generous shareholder distributions.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 82.46p +20.17%

Tesco (TSCO) 172.30p +3.67%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 498.10p +3.56%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,165.50p +2.58%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 231.70p +2.48%

Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,544.50p +2.39%

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,550.00p +2.34%

BP (BP.) 329.05p +1.86%

Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 157.90p +1.54%

Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,000.00p +1.52%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Wolseley (WOS) 3,648.00p -12.71%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,278.00p -6.22%

ARM Holdings (ARM) 903.50p -3.88%

Sage Group (SGE) 495.40p -3.52%

Shire Plc (SHP) 4,426.00p -3.26%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 197.20p -3.10%

Persimmon (PSN) 2,047.00p -2.94%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,963.00p -2.63%

Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,353.00p -2.53%

3i Group (III) 459.70p -2.44%