FTSE 100 movers: Barclays gives LSE a boost; Kingfisher drops on results

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.5% to 7,025.71 in afternoon trade on Wednesday as investors digested the latest UK jobs data and eyed the Fed's rate announcement after the close.

LSE was the standout gainer as Barclays upped its price target on the overweight-rated stock by 6% to 4,635p, saying the market is "unduly pessimistic" on 2019 EBITDA margin.

"We rate LSE Overweight due to strong recent earnings momentum as well as a positive diversification strategy to areas of structural growth. Cost control remains strong and the multiple appears undemanding compared to its historical price-to-earnings range," it said.

Plumbing and heating supplier Ferguson, formerly Wolseley, was higher as Credit Suisse cut its price target on the stock given the year-to-date weakening of the USD/GBP rate, but maintained its 'outperform' rating and said fundamentals are still solid. The bank also lifted its group organic growth estimates for the next three years, pointing to a better demand outlook.

Engineer GKN ticked up as it branded Melrose Industries a novice operator with no plan, in the latest round of accusations between the companies locked in a hostile bid battle. The company published a series of rebuttals to what it described as misleading statements made by Melrose, which is trying to buy GKN against the will of GKN’s board.

Going the other way, B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher was under the cosh, dragging Next and Primark owner AB Foods down with it after reported an 8% fall in annual profits on flat sales and issued a very cautious outlook.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The main headline of these results is the weakness in the UK. Fourth quarter like-for-like sales have slumped at B&Q, while the wheels are also turning that little bit slower at Screwfix, which has so often bailed out the UK business in recent years.

"Kingfisher says the outlook for both businesses is uncertain, so the worry for investors is B&Q sales trends remain in the red."

Next was also due to release its preliminary full-year results on Friday.

Risers

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 4,104.00p 1.68%
Sky (SKY) 1,323.50p 1.03%
Ferguson (FERG) 5,326.00p 1.02%
SSE (SSE) 1,224.40p 1.02%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 636.20p 0.98%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 538.60p 0.82%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,428.00p 0.59%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 270.80p 0.52%
Evraz (EVR) 420.40p 0.50%
GKN (GKN) 426.70p 0.45%

Fallers

Kingfisher (KGF) 307.30p -9.00%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 961.00p -3.07%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,709.00p -2.68%
WPP (WPP) 1,118.00p -2.44%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,914.50p -1.84%
SEGRO (SGRO) 611.20p -1.77%
Next (NXT) 4,668.00p -1.77%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,332.00p -1.71%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,452.50p -1.66%
G4S (GFS) 243.60p -1.66%