FTSE 100 movers: Miners in the red, Aviva and Sage gain

The FTSE 100 remained in the red in afternoon trading on Thursday, as investors continued to rifle through the morning’s avalanche of earnings reports.

Aviva was a top performer as it said annual profit was little changed and announced the disposal of its Italian business and a move to reduce debt by £800m.

Sage was a high riser after the software company announced it was commencing a share buyback programme of up to £300m utilising the sale proceeds from recent disposals and ongoing cash generation.

Building materials distributor CRH was up after it lifted its dividend even as it reported a decline in full-year profit and revenue, after what it called a "challenging year", hit by disruption from the pandemic.

Reckitt Benckiser was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Societe Generale.

On the downside, miners slumped, with Rio Tinto, BHP, Anglo American and Glencore all weaker.

B&M European Value Retail gave back early gains despite increasing its guidance for annual earnings after strong trading at its UK business.

Entain lost ground as the Ladbrokes owner pulled its dividend despite a rise in annual profits, citing Covid-19 uncertainties.

InterContinental Hotels was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,645.72 -0.45%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,381.34 -0.26%
techMARK (TASX) 4,066.35 0.33%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Melrose Industries (MRO) 184.35p 4.18%
Sage Group (SGE) 595.60p 2.80%
Aviva (AV.) 392.90p 2.53%
National Grid (NG.) 829.00p 2.32%
Pennon Group (PNN) 924.80p 1.90%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 879.40p 1.71%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,202.00p 1.67%
Experian (EXPN) 2,347.00p 1.60%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,199.00p 1.43%
CRH (CRH) 3,339.00p 1.37%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,000.00p -6.76%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,753.50p -4.83%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,247.00p -4.55%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,114.00p -4.13%
Glencore (GLEN) 289.55p -3.39%
Schroders (SDR) 3,472.00p -3.34%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,190.00p -3.33%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,783.50p -2.94%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,062.00p -2.70%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 530.60p -2.50%