FTSE 100 movers: Housebuilders weigh but JMAT gains on subsidiary sale
London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,570.21 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with housebuilders the biggest drag.
Johnson Matthey was the standout gainer after announcing that Cummins was buying its UK automotive battery systems business, a subsidiary specialising in high-voltage automotive grade battery systems for electric and hybrid vehicles.
As part of the acquisition, Cummins and Johnson Matthey also agreed to collaborate on the development of high energy battery materials for commercial heavy duty applications.
Rolls-Royce advanced after luring Tom Bell back from Boeing to lead its enlarged defence business in a further shake-up at the aerospace group.
Bell joined Boeing from Rolls-Royce in 2015 and is senior vice president of global sales and marketing for defence, space and security at the US company. He will replace Chris Cholerton as president of defence as Cholerton moves across to head the civil aerospace division.
SSE rallied as it upgraded its estimate for annual earnings and reported progress in delivery of operations and returns from long-term investments.
On the downside, housebuilbers Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group were all on the back foot following a report in The Times that property developers are set to lose planning permission on unused land if they fail to hit construction targets under moves to kickstart housebuilding.
Micro Focus fell on the back of a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Investec.
Risers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,443.00p 4.08%
BAE Systems (BA.) 594.40p 1.82%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 873.20p 1.61%
SEGRO (SGRO) 582.00p 1.39%
SSE (SSE) 1,308.00p 1.36%
Centrica (CNA) 133.95p 1.21%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,679.00p 1.21%
Pearson (PSON) 697.20p 1.19%
Just Eat (JE.) 819.20p 1.06%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 822.40p 1.02%
Fallers
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,146.00p -1.51%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,533.00p -1.48%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,376.00p -1.47%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 288.10p -1.34%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 192.50p -1.33%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 593.00p -1.30%
Carnival (CCL) 4,979.00p -1.09%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,964.50p -0.99%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,401.00p -0.95%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,014.00p -0.94%