Sector movers: Industrials and travel on the slide

A hodgepodge of sectors was lifted on the rising tide on Friday as investors bought the dip following recent losses, while several industrial related sectors and travel companies were noticeable on the downside.

Personal goods were higher solely due to a rebound from Unilever a day after its quarterly update disappointed hard-to-please analysts. Most others in the sectors, including Burberry, Superdry and Ted Baker, were in the red.

Unilever finance director Graeme Pitkethly told reporters the consumer goods giant could ditch plans to overhaul its corporate structure, but that he could not put a deadline on when it would make a decision.

Oil and gas shares were boosted as oil prices increased, with Brent crude up 1% back above $80 a barrel.

Amid the general rally, Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG, said this was a continuation of the steady recovery from the lows of last week, with "dip buyers" emerging once again.

"Yesterday’s weakness merely served as an opportunity for buyers to step in, so if we can avoid another selloff in the latter half of the US session the recovery from the lows is intact," Beauchamp said. "It is clear that the market has yet to decide whether it can resume its march higher or not, but the start of earnings season has gone well, providing one reason for optimism, while the firm defence of the lows last week sends another signal that there is still significant buying pressure out there. This might seem odd, given Brexit, Italy, trade wars and a US/Saudi spat, but the wall of worry is still intact, as good a signal as any for further upside."

Electronic & Electrical Equipment, Industrial Engineering, Automobiles & Parts, General Industrials and Mining sectors were all liberally sprinkled with red.

One factor weighing on sentiment was overnight figures from China showing the economy grew at its slowest rate since the financial crisis, with GDP slipping to 6.5% for the third quarter of the year, down from 6.7% in the preceding quarter and lower than the 6.6% that economists had pencilled in.

Industrial output slowed to 5.8% in September, down from 6.1% the month before and below the 6.0% forecast, dragging average growth in the whole third quarter to 6.0% from 6.6% in the second.

Still, Chinese listed stocks rallied after regulators stepped in with fresh measures to support liquidity and investment.

Travel companies and airlines featured among the fallers, with easyJet, IAG, On The Beach Group, Thomas Cook and airline Wizz Air all dropping after analysts at Mainfirst cut expectations for European airlines in 2019 across the board following a difficult summer for travel outfits.

"We expect a less dramatic picture for summer 2019 as the industry (hopefully) adapts to the higher fuel price environment, enabling a better pass through of the cost burden. Still, the risk remains that airport slot protection and market share wins are prioritised over rationality and profits in the short-term," Mainfirst said in a note to clients.

Analysts cut their stance on easyJet to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and slashed the price target to 900p from 1,600p, citing challenges in coming years "by simultaneous top-line and cost pressures resulting in margin, return on capital employed and free cash flow squeeze".

Top performing sectors so far today

Personal Goods 35,397.92 +2.82%
Beverages 21,472.49 +2.33%
Oil & Gas Producers 9,363.22 +1.22%
Food & Drug Retailers 3,677.81 +1.20%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 938.58 +1.02%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Leisure Goods 7,619.70 -3.48%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 5,913.24 -2.62%
Industrial Engineering 11,196.43 -2.51%
Automobiles & Parts 7,901.98 -2.30%
General Industrials 5,646.06 -2.02%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,051.41 0.35%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,803.90 -0.83%
techMARK (TASX) 3,325.65 -0.38%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,708.00p 3.66%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,558.40p 3.16%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,112.00p 3.15%
Diageo (DGE) 2,698.50p 2.82%
Tesco (TSCO) 214.00p 2.34%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 4,385.00p 2.31%
SSE (SSE) 1,152.00p 2.04%
Centrica (CNA) 149.50p 1.56%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,740.00p 1.48%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 719.40p 1.47%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

easyJet (EZJ) 1,070.00p -6.14%
Evraz (EVR) 525.00p -5.06%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 384.70p -4.75%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 491.30p -4.45%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 151.50p -3.75%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,024.40p -3.56%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,345.00p -3.27%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,085.00p -3.13%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 557.80p -3.06%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,919.00p -3.02%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Intu Properties (INTU) 199.85p 12.46%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,340.00p 8.33%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 154.80p 2.79%
CYBG (CYBG) 271.20p 2.57%
F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 137.80p 2.23%
Pennon Group (PNN) 734.04p 2.01%
Kier Group (KIE) 891.25p 1.86%
Softcat (SCT) 748.50p 1.84%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 702.50p 1.80%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 364.10p 1.79%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Renishaw (RSW) 3,782.00p -9.78%
Essentra (ESNT) 354.80p -8.04%
Elementis (ELM) 203.00p -7.47%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 385.80p -6.81%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,843.00p -5.92%
On The Beach Group (OTB) 420.50p -5.51%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 278.00p -5.44%
Victrex plc (VCT) 2,548.00p -5.07%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 938.40p -5.02%
AA (AA.) 99.86p -4.80%