FTSE 100 movers: Rolls-Royce rallies; Severn Trent goes ex-div
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,484.05 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Rolls-Royce shares surged after the engine maker’s director of energy and technology told Bloomberg in an interview that the coronavirus crisis may provide the company with space for development of critical new engine technologies and a possible re-entry into the narrow-body jetliner market.
IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "Rolls-Royce has always managed to demonstrate a capacity to adapt to even the toughest times, and today’s announcement about a move back towards the narrow-body jetliner market has provided the spark the shares have been searching for in order to maintain their rebound from the November lows.
"The shares have only recouped around a third of their losses from late October, and the bounce since the beginning of November is perhaps only the latest in a series of false dawns for a share price that has yet to find a low."
Flutter Entertainment rallied after the Paddy Power Betfair owner said it had agreed to buy the entire 37.2% interest in US gaming company FanDuel currently held by Fastball for $4.18bn (£3.13bn).
Flutter bought a controlling stake in FanDuel in 2018. It said on Thursday that the deal, which is conditional on shareholder approval, will take its stake in FanDuel to 95% from 57.8%.
Sainsbury's was firmer after becoming the latest supermarket to bow to pressure and repay more than £400m in business rates relief received from the government to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Severn Trent was weaker as its stock went ex-dividend.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 128.85p 10.36%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 14,625.00p 9.43%
BT Group (BT.A) 133.80p 5.90%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 218.40p 4.05%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,362.00p 3.85%
Glencore (GLEN) 231.35p 3.84%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,470.00p 3.83%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,321.00p 3.62%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,717.00p 3.37%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,848.00p 3.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,729.00p -2.62%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,836.00p -2.42%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,894.00p -2.03%
BP (BP.) 262.35p -1.80%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,325.00p -1.77%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,369.40p -1.74%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,325.00p -1.68%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,847.00p -1.52%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,356.00p -1.51%
Prudential (PRU) 1,213.50p -1.22%