FTSE 100 movers: GVC gains ground; gold miners lose their shine
London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.3% at 6,130.07 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, underpinned by US stimulus hopes.
Ladbrokes owner GVC Holdings was sitting pretty at the top of the index, with traders pointing to the fact that media and technology company IAC/InterActive Corp has made a $1bn investment in MGM Resorts, with which GVC had a joint venture.
British Airways and Iberia IAG flew higher as travel stocks were boosted after Russia approved a controversial Covid-19 vaccine.
InterContinental Hotels was on the rise despite suffering a $233m (£178m) loss in the first half as occupancy at its hotels plunged during the Covid-19 crisis, as it said it was seeing "very early signs" of improvement as restrictions are eased.
Bucking the trend, Fresnillo and Polymetal lost their shine as gold prices fell amid a strong dollar.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "Gold is taking a bit of a beating today, despite the dollar also giving up some of its recent gains. The test and collapse of $2,000 support has likely seen some profit taking kick in following the yellow metals strong performance in July.
"The next test at $1,980 is giving gold some reprieve but with $2,000 caving so easily, I can't imagine it will hold too much longer. None of this changes my view longer term, with gold continuing to look bullish but markets don't move in a straight line and these corrective moves can be sharp but are generally healthy."
FTSE 100 - Risers
GVC Holdings (GVC) 780.20p 8.97%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 219.10p 8.63%
Informa (INF) 420.70p 5.04%
Evraz (EVR) 342.00p 4.81%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,999.50p 4.74%
ITV (ITV) 64.90p 4.64%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,183.00p 4.55%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,411.50p 4.52%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,741.00p 4.46%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,179.00p 4.21%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,204.50p -6.84%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,935.50p -3.85%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,240.00p -2.48%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 526.40p -2.41%
SEGRO (SGRO) 960.20p -1.40%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 498.80p -0.91%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,338.00p -0.82%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,446.00p -0.69%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,537.00p -0.59%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,782.00p -0.22%