FTSE 100 movers: RSA rallies on deal news; Compass hit by downgrade
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,385.59 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
RSA Insurance was the top gainer on the index after it agreed to be bought for £7.2bn by a consortium comprising Intact Corp of Canada and Denmark’s Tryg A/S.
Energy supplier SSE was also up as it reported a fall in adjusted operating profit after taking a £115m hit from the coronavirus pandemic, but maintained its interim dividend payout.
B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher advanced ahead of a third-quarter update on Thursday.
Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon were both higher after official figures showed UK house prices accelerated faster than expectations in September, fuelled by the Chancellor's stamp duty holiday and households looking for more space.
The average price of a UK property rose 4.7% to £244,513 in the year to the end of September and by 1.7% during the month, the Office for National Statistics said. The average analyst forecast was for 2.9% annual growth.
On the downside, Spirax-Sarco Engineering lost ground despite backing its full-year expectations and reporting an improvement in third-quarter trading.
British Land fell after it posted a decline in underlying half-year profit as the value of its retail assets slid by nearly 15%. The company also warned that due to concerns about Brexit and Covid-19, office leasing volumes will be lower as customers defer long-term decisions.
Caterer Compass Group was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.
FTSE 100 - Risers
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 674.60p 4.27%
SSE (SSE) 1,402.00p 4.01%
Kingfisher (KGF) 299.00p 3.35%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 164.25p 3.30%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,893.00p 2.63%
Avast (AVST) 454.80p 2.52%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,205.00p 2.31%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 508.80p 2.29%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 156.90p 2.25%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 385.05p 2.24%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Homeserve (HSV) 1,209.00p -4.58%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,375.00p -4.53%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,546.50p -4.27%
DCC (DCC) 5,678.00p -3.40%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,346.00p -3.20%
Halma (HLMA) 2,334.00p -2.30%
British Land Company (BLND) 499.80p -2.19%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 953.80p -1.99%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 6,002.00p -1.96%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,268.00p -1.92%