FTSE 100 movers: Rio Tinto rallies but BT, BATS down as they go ex-dividend

There wasn’t a whole lot going on in financial markets on Thursday, with volumes and news thin on the ground ahead of the new year, but that didn’t stop the FTSE 100 from creeping up to a fresh all-time high of 7,633.55

Mining giant Rio Tinto was on the up again as copper prices rallied.

Accendo Markets analyst Henry Croft said: “The US dollar extending its sell-off, falling to its lowest level since 1 December, has aided the commodities rally, while growth barometer Copper trading a fresh four-year high has sparked confidence that global economic growth will be broadly positive in 2018.”

Retailers were also in the black, with Next, Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer all trading higher following mixed reports about the Boxing Day sales.

BT Group and British American Tobacco were both on the back foot as their stock went ex-dividend.

Risers

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,865.00p 1.43%
Next (NXT) 4,595.00p 1.32%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,844.00p 1.17%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 243.60p 1.16%
Carnival (CCL) 4,929.80p 1.04%
Ferguson (FERG) 5,378.95p 1.01%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 319.30p 0.98%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,921.00p 0.95%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 644.00p 0.94%
Aviva (AV.) 504.50p 0.90%

Fallers

BT Group (BT.A) 267.75p -2.37%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,844.00p -2.03%
G4S (GFS) 259.70p -0.88%
Halma (HLMA) 1,260.00p -0.79%
Old Mutual (OML) 226.50p -0.57%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,978.50p -0.53%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,390.00p -0.50%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,235.00p -0.48%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 845.50p -0.47%
SSE (SSE) 1,296.50p -0.42%