FTSE 100 movers: South Africans feel the pain after Zuma sacks finance minister
South African stocks weighed heavily as the major fallers on the FTSE 100 after President Jacob Zuma sacked Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Shares of firms with operations in South Africa dominated the top 10 decliners.
Old Mutual dived after Gordhan was axed in a midnight cabinet reshuffle on Thursday night, sending the rand and government bonds tumbling.
Zuma's reshuffle involved eight other ministers. Zuma said in a statement that his midnight action was about a "radical socio-economic transformation".
Gordhan was replaced by Malusi Gigaba as finance minister, previously the minister of home affairs.
Others to feel the pinch were Mondi, Anglo-American, Randgold Resources, Glencore and Mediclinic.
On the positive side insurance firms Direct Line and Aviva rallied after the government announced a review into the way the discount rate for personal injury claim payouts was handled.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,342.48 -0.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,924.53 -0.46%
techMARK (TASX) 3,461.47 -0.28%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 351.00p 2.93%
Intu Properties (INTU) 277.60p 2.10%
British Land Company (BLND) 604.50p 2.03%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,044.00p 1.66%
Aviva (AV.) 536.50p 1.61%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,022.00p 1.49%
Next (NXT) 4,322.00p 1.46%
BT Group (BT.A) 320.75p 1.18%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 335.20p 1.15%
National Grid (NG.) 1,016.00p 0.99%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Old Mutual (OML) 200.40p -7.61%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 720.50p -5.07%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,213.00p -3.92%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 812.50p -3.27%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,515.00p -2.57%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,238.00p -2.56%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,207.00p -2.52%
Glencore (GLEN) 310.65p -2.16%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,938.00p -1.97%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,860.00p -1.72%