FTSE 100 movers: Weir upgraded, mining stocks gain
Engineering firm Weir Group was a high riser on Tuesday after Credit Suisse upgraded the shares from 'neutral' to 'outperform' and hiked its target price from 2,540p to 3,060p. The bank said that the stock offers "a better relative risk return profile" near term than sector peer IMI which it downgraded to 'neutral'.
Mining stocks were performing well including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Glencore after the Australian government repealed a controversial tax on mining profits for iron ore and coal.
Heading the other way were the banks with RBS and Lloyds among the worst performers. Barclays also inched lower after saying on Monday that it would take a £500m loss from the sale of certain Spanish banking assets to Caixabank.
Housebuilders were firmly out of favour as rate-hike speculation continued to dominate sentiment, especially after data which showed that UK construction activity reached a seven-month high in August. Barratt Developments and Persimmon were both in the red.
Supermarket stocks J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison and Tesco were attempting to claw their way back after reeling at the news of a profit warning and dividend cut from the latter last week.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,711.00p +2.73%
Glencore (GLEN) 368.05p +1.71%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,548.00p +1.61%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 294.00p +1.55%
Aviva (AV.) 523.00p +1.36%
Tesco (TSCO) 228.35p +1.24%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,928.50p +1.23%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,451.00p +1.19%
Old Mutual (OML) 201.10p +1.11%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 788.50p +1.02%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 359.80p -2.44%
SSE (SSE) 1,487.00p -2.11%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 353.40p -1.92%
Royal Mail (RMG) 439.80p -1.79%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 74.65p -1.58%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,020.00p -1.28%
Fresnillo (FRES) 952.00p -1.24%
Rexam (REX) 497.90p -1.21%
ITV (ITV) 216.10p -1.19%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,523.50p -1.18%
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