FTSE 100 movers: IAG flies higher; Rentokil slips

London’s FTSE 100 was up 1% at 7,121.00 in afternoon trade on Monday.

British Airways and Iberia owner IAG was the standout gainer on the index following a report it is renewing plans to consolidate the sector. According to The Times, speculation is mounting that IAG could look to buy smaller rivals such as easyJet or Portugal's TAP. IAG and Wizz Air also gained.

Banks rallied following a report that the government had denied suggestions it is considering a windfall tax on the sector as one means of closing the budget hole.

According to The Times, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremey Hunt played down the notion that they were looking at new taxes on banks. It was understood that Hunt is likely to cut the current 8% surcharge for financial institutions to 3%, which would mean that if the corporate tax rate goes up to 25%, banks will face a 28% tax rate.

NatWest, Lloyds and Barclays all gained. NatWest was also recovering from heavy losses last week on the back of results.

British Gas owner Centrica advanced after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Jefferies, while Drax also powered ahead after the same upgrade. Centrica was also boosted after Citi reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the shares.

Housebuilders were under the cosh, while Rentokil slipped ahead of a third-quarter trading update on Tuesday.

FTSE 100 - Risers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 120.90p 4.88%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 235.50p 4.71%
Centrica (CNA) 76.32p 4.32%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 42.25p 2.39%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 194.95p 2.36%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,894.50p 2.29%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 11,490.00p 2.18%
Fresnillo (FRES) 739.40p 2.16%
Prudential (PRU) 813.80p 2.03%
BT Group (BT.A) 129.15p 1.97%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,679.00p -2.10%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,725.00p -1.61%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 112.70p -1.23%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,784.00p -1.19%
Haleon (HLN) 266.25p -1.13%
Halma (HLMA) 2,114.00p -1.12%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,481.00p -1.08%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 93.98p -1.03%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 374.50p -0.98%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 540.00p -0.81%