FTSE 100 movers: NMC Health heads higher; Sage slumps on downgrade
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.5% to 7,593.44 in afternoon trade on Monday as investors eyed US-China trade talks this week.
Russian steelmaker Evraz was the top gainer after the Russian government said last week that it would be impractical to raise more taxes from metals and mining companies that are earning windfall profits.
NMC Health was in the green as it said earnings rose 30% in the first half of the year as the Gulf private healthcare operator's margins accelerated faster than revenues, boosted by acquisitions of a cosmetic surgery business and a chronic care specialist.
Management said the financial and operational performance in the half-year was in line with expectations, with a "positive outlook" for the rest of 2018 as margins strengthen and $200m worth of new acquisitions offering the potential for guidance to be upgraded.
Paddy Power Betfair was in the black as it completed the first tranche of a £200m share buyback programme and began a second £300m tranche.
Miners advanced as copper prices rose, with BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Glencore all trading higher.
On the downside, Sage Group slumped after Deutsche Bank said the competitive situation in its core mid-market franchise appears to be worsening and downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'hold', cutting the price target to 540p from 630p.
The bank said it has spoken to a number of accountants and resellers over the last few weeks across the UK, US and Australia, along with senior figures from key competitors Xerox and Intuit.
"Entry level players at far lower price points are moving upmarket and are building functionality either internally or through third party platform partners. Higher end competitors also appear to be gradually gaining share from Sage's core user and reseller base," it said.
Housebuilders Persimmon, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey retreated after the latest figures from Rightmove showed that UK house prices dropped 2.3% in August from July, as new sellers launched a ‘late summer sale’ to try and find a buyer more quickly.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Evraz (EVR) 486.60p 4.29%
NMC Health (NMC) 4,156.00p 2.36%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,115.00p 2.30%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,147.00p 2.29%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,661.60p 1.98%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 225.40p 1.94%
WPP (WPP) 1,299.50p 1.84%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,561.40p 1.79%
Glencore (GLEN) 310.26p 1.72%
DCC (DCC) 7,015.00p 1.59%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Sage Group (SGE) 628.00p -5.68%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 740.40p -1.57%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,430.29p -1.29%
Kingfisher (KGF) 270.00p -1.21%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,693.00p -1.18%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 169.20p -0.99%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 329.76p -0.79%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,998.50p -0.77%
Centrica (CNA) 144.80p -0.75%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,369.00p -0.73%