FTSE 100 movers: Fresnillo shines but ITV retreats on update
London's FTSE 100 was up 1% to 7,111.13 in afternoon trade on Wednesday as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the US mid-term elections panned out pretty much as expected.
Primark owner Associated British Foods was a high riser again after stronger-than-expected full-year earnings on Tuesday, while precious metals miner Fresnillo shone as gold prices rose on the back of a weaker dollar.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "The return of risk appetite has been accompanied by a rally in gold, which is benefiting from some weakness in the greenback. The dollar performed well during the turbulence in October and could therefore reverse some of these moves as markets recover which could provide additional support for the yellow metal.
"This could be especially true if the Fed does anything to signal it’s become less hawkish than it was or that market reaction to Powell’s comments were overblown."
On the downside, ITV was the worst performer as the broadcaster warned that it has seen some softening in advertising revenues at the start of the fourth quarter due to Brexit uncertainty and now expects total advertising to be broadly flat over the full year.
Royal Mail was in the red after announcing that the head of its UK post and parcels division was leaving the company after 12 years in the job. Sue Whalley will leave the group with immediate effect and her responsibilities will be divided up between chief executive Rico Back and chief financial officer Stuart Simpson.
Direct Line was under the cosh a day after its third-quarter trading update, as Investec and Barclays cut their price targets on the insurer.
Marks & Spencer retreated as the retailer reported sales down 3.1% in the first half of the year but higher underlying profits thanks to phasing of cost cuts. The retailer's food like-for-like sales fell 2.9% amid tough competition in the supermarket sector, while clothing and home sales shrank 1.1%.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,569.00p 4.43%
Fresnillo (FRES) 909.40p 4.41%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 174.30p 4.06%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,472.00p 3.46%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,940.00p 2.92%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,431.50p 2.65%
Evraz (EVR) 576.00p 2.64%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 627.00p 2.62%
Tesco (TSCO) 217.50p 2.50%
Centrica (CNA) 152.85p 2.38%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
ITV (ITV) 148.10p -3.99%
Royal Mail (RMG) 345.40p -2.15%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 318.50p -1.30%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,248.00p -1.10%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 299.60p -0.96%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 884.50p -0.79%
BT Group (BT.A) 249.04p -0.78%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 382.10p -0.78%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 6,805.00p -0.66%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,279.00p -0.58%