FTSE 100 movers: Unilever and WPP lead retreat as sector growth disappoints
The FTSE 100 retreated 0.29% in afternoon trading on Thursday as equity markets were seen affected by disappointing retail data.
Consumer goods company Unilever led the losses in the second last session of the week after it reported weak sales growth during the third quarter. The firm did return to volume growth in the period however, but investors were not convinced as the stock fell over 5%.
Advertising giant WPP also took a hit during trading due to its close relationship with Unilever, as well as poor sales numbers from French affiliate Publicis.
Standard Chartered and HSBC also saw themselves on the red side of the board after the UK Treasury said it had referred a case to the FCA where both were said to have had exposure to the Gupta scandal in South Africa.
Among the better performers in the UK’s primary index, packaging firm Smurfit Kappa was more than 3% higher after reports of its focus on recycling operations.
Hospital operator Mediclinic also buzzed higher despite a downgrade from US investment bank JPMorgan Chase, where the rating was cut to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’ with a target price of 733p.
Equipment rental company Ashtead was also in the black after it was boosted by some well-received third quarter earnings from US peer United Rentals.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,242.00p 3.70%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,485.00p 1.70%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 374.90p 1.32%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,763.50p 1.18%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,417.00p 1.14%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,915.00p 1.11%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 645.50p 0.94%
Pearson (PSON) 693.00p 0.87%
BP (BP.) 492.10p 0.84%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 623.50p 0.81%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Unilever (ULVR) 4,294.00p -5.60%
WPP (WPP) 1,371.00p -2.63%
BAE Systems (BA.) 601.50p -2.27%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,538.00p -2.23%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,590.00p -2.15%
Carnival (CCL) 4,941.00p -1.96%
Kingfisher (KGF) 303.40p -1.75%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,295.00p -1.67%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 212.90p -1.66%
DCC (DCC) 7,170.00p -1.58%