FTSE 100 movers: Gold miners glitter but gambling stocks slide again
London's FTSE 100 was down 1.6% to 6,932.57 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, weighed down by worries about Brexit, Italy's finances and souring relations between the US and Saudi Arabia.
GVC Holdings and Paddy Power were under the cosh for the second day running amid expectations that chancellor Philip Hammond will clamp down on offshore gambling companies in the Budget next week.
St James's Place retreated as it said flow growth slowed in the third-quarter, but funds under management grew to a record £100.6bn.
On the upside, Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were high risers as gold prices rallied on their safe-haven appeal, while utilities National Grid and United Utilities also gained as investors sought safe places to park their cash.
"The price of gold bullion has moved up to its highest level in 3 months at $1235 as investors are clearly growing concerned that the recent weakness in stocks may be a harbinger of things to come," said David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB.
British American Tobacco was on the front foot as Barclays said the stock's valuation is cheap for a fast-moving consumer goods company.
"BAT's stock is down 34% year-to-date and has underperformed its peers by around 18%. Applying a 12x EV/19E EBITDA multiple to its US business, in line with Altria, and a mark-to-market value to its stakes in its two listed Indian assets (ITC and VST) leaves the rest of BAT at 7.7x EV/19E EBITDA.
"We find this to be very cheap for an FMCG company. Even a challenged business like Edgewell Care trades at 8.5x EV/19E EBITDA as there is always potential for shareholder activism in consumer stocks."
Imperial Brands was also trading higher.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 932.60p 4.13%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,493.00p 3.90%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,693.50p 3.22%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,466.00p 2.70%
National Grid (NG.) 843.90p 1.76%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 723.20p 1.66%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,121.00p 1.54%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,165.00p 1.20%
Pearson (PSON) 887.00p 0.98%
Tesco (TSCO) 215.00p 0.94%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
GVC Holdings (GVC) 869.50p -7.25%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 6,110.00p -5.78%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 359.90p -5.54%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 810.20p -5.35%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 457.80p -5.27%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 156.39p -4.90%
St James's Place (STJ) 986.80p -4.61%
Halma (HLMA) 1,235.00p -4.11%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 743.00p -3.93%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,643.50p -3.86%