FTSE 100 movers: Investors hang up on Vodafone; Centrica rallies on update
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,174.02 in afternoon trade on Monday as China retaliated against the US with $60bn worth of tariffs.
Vodafone was the worst performer on the index after The Sunday Times said it could cut its dividend to invest in 5G.
Russian Steelmaker Evraz was under the cosh after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'underweight' from 'equalweight' and cut its price target to 500p from 560p.
Going the other way, British Gas owner Centrica was the top riser as it maintained its full-year guidance on cash flow and net debt but said a "challenging" environment due to falling gas prices, tariff caps, warmer weather and nuclear outages had forced it to conduct a strategic review of its portfolio.
Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, pointed out that the rally in the share price despite the "clearly cautious" tone of the statement follows a sharp dip last week and several years of underperforming the market, "so it may be more relief than anything else".
Oil giants Shell and BP gushed higher as oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were attacked over the weekend near the Strait of Hormuz.
Shell was also boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at HSBC, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on BP.
"We are increasingly comfortable with Shell’s financial framework. In particular, we see sufficient free cash to allow Shell to continue buying back stock at cUSD10bn pa beyond the 2020 expiry of the current target," HSBC said.
The bank also said that BP remains one of its top picks among the five supermajors.
"Sentiment has improved significantly, boosting the share price to a 3-year high vs the European oils and a post-Macondo high vs the global sector in recent weeks. Despite this, we see good upside in the shares."
FTSE 100 - Risers
Centrica (CNA) 94.24p 1.77%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,473.00p 1.64%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,461.00p 1.42%
Informa (INF) 758.60p 1.15%
BP (BP.) 529.00p 0.92%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,722.00p 0.88%
National Grid (NG.) 842.50p 0.84%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 501.40p 0.56%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,854.50p 0.55%
Relx plc (REL) 1,748.50p 0.37%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 132.08p -4.98%
ITV (ITV) 113.70p -4.73%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 789.20p -4.66%
Evraz (EVR) 561.20p -4.30%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 204.14p -3.57%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,165.00p -3.18%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 225.90p -3.01%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 811.00p -2.94%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 176.95p -2.93%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,067.00p -2.91%