FTSE 100 movers: NMC and Mediclinic lead the pack after analyst recommendations
The FTSE 100 was up 0.08% in trading on Friday afternoon as London stocks were largely unchanged in a week dominated by political tensions in Spain and growing discontent within the Conservative party at Theresa May’s leadership.
Healthcare stocks maintained a firm grip atop the table on Friday, with NMC Health and Mediclinic both flying higher.
NMC Health gained more than 4% after it was boosted by an initiation of coverage from Berenberg, in which the German bank rated the stock as ‘buy’ with a target price of 4000p.
Mediclinic was continuing to benefit from an upgrade it received from Goldman Sachs on Thursday, in which it said recent underperformance represented more value for the hospital operator.
Barratt Developments was also among the best performers during the session, after UK house prices rose 4% in the three months to September in comparison with the same period a year ago. Analysts had expected a rise of 3.6%.
The property development firm also received an upgrade to ‘outperform’ from Credit Suisse.
On the other side of the coin, budget airline easyJet flew lower after saying pre-tax profit for the year was expected to be at the upper end of its previous forecasts, though full-year earnings will be lower than last year. It also reported record passenger numbers during the summer period, but investors seem unconvinced by the figures.
Centrica continued to be hampered by the news this week that the government would begin debating legislation next week for an energy price cap, falling around 1.5% during trading. Investec, which moved Centrica to a 'sell', estimated a potential 50% hit on FY18 earnings per share from the immediate adjustment of standard variable tariffs to the level of the cap. "We see the medium term EPS impact is circa -40% absent considerable movement in cost allowances or accelerated efficiency gains," analysts wrote, pointing to a risk-weighted scenario implies that a "circa 20-25% dividend cut may be necessary".
Building material firm CRH was also among the worst performers after its proposed $3.5bn acquisition of Ash Grove was on the verge of being derailed after the US target company received a slightly better offer.
Marks & Spencer was down after Deutsche Bank forecast a 0.7% decline in second quarter UK like-for-like sales and a 12% drop in underlying pre-tax profit reflecting mixed performance in an increasingly challenging UK market.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,517.87 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,155.92 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,548.54 0.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
NMC Health (NMC) 2,829.00p 3.93%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 686.00p 3.31%
Pearson (PSON) 631.00p 2.44%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,853.00p 2.32%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 363.00p 2.05%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 658.50p 1.86%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,112.00p 1.68%
Old Mutual (OML) 196.20p 1.45%
Aviva (AV.) 497.30p 1.43%
BT Group (BT.A) 283.40p 1.40%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,250.00p -2.65%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 348.10p -1.69%
Centrica (CNA) 174.80p -1.52%
CRH (CRH) 2,769.00p -1.46%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,104.00p -1.22%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.63p -1.00%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,375.00p -0.87%
Glencore (GLEN) 367.20p -0.84%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 771.90p -0.84%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,264.00p -0.79%