FTSE 100 movers: Randgold, Fresnillo shine; Babcock slumps
London's FTSE 100 was down 1% to 7,260.60 in afternoon trade, while the pound rallied against the dollar amid doubts about Donald Trump's ability to deliver on his fiscal stimulus pledges.
Retailers Next and Marks & Spencer were the biggest gainers.
Randgold Resources and Fresnillo shone, with precious metals prices boosted by investors' flight to safety.
Sales, marketing and support services group DCC was trading higher after Goldman Sachs upped its price target to 8,200p from 7,400p and maintained its 'buy' rating.
"Following DCC’s acquisition of Esso Norway’s petrol retail network, we believe it is well positioned to reap the benefits of potential further disposals by oil majors," GS said.
Babcock was under pressure after it said the Cavendish Fluor Partnership, in which it has a 65% stake, had agreed to end its UK nuclear decommissioning contract in 2019, taking £800m from its order book.
British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group flew lower after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 500p from 550p.
It reckoned that IAG's North Atlantic performance – a key contributor – will splutter in the second quarter and second half of this year as a number of factors put pressure on sentiment and fundamentals.
Glencore was weaker following news that it was halting operations at its Collinsville and Newlands coal mines in Australia ahead of Cyclone Debbie's arrival in northern Queensland.
Other miners such as BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Anglo American were under the cosh as base metals prices retreated, likely weighed by worries about a delay to Donald Trump's infrastructure spending boost.
Lloyds Banking Group was hit by a downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' by Berenberg, which said the stock was overvalued, particularly given the asymmetric risks to earnings.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Next (NXT) 4,192.00p 1.50%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 335.50p 1.08%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,215.00p 0.77%
Centrica (CNA) 218.00p 0.74%
DCC (DCC) 7,025.00p 0.72%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,943.00p 0.68%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 546.00p 0.65%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,095.00p 0.58%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,932.00p 0.56%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,553.00p 0.52%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Babcock International Group (BAB) 881.50p -3.82%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 530.50p -3.46%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,204.50p -3.25%
Glencore (GLEN) 309.40p -3.24%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 805.50p -3.01%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,217.50p -2.79%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,176.50p -2.49%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 742.00p -1.92%
CRH (CRH) 2,773.00p -1.70%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.90p -1.69%