FTSE 100 movers: Travel stocks rally; pharmas retreat
London’s FTSE 100 was up 1% at 6,050.50 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, with travel stocks pacing the gains.
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG flew to the top of the index, with budget airline easyJet close behind as the airline sector was boosted by news that Lufthansa has agreed a €9bn bailout with the German government.
EasyJet was also in focus also after chief financial officer Andrew Findlay resigned just days after the airline's founder Stelios Haji-Ioannnou failed to remove him and three other leading board members. The airline said Findlay was expected to work his year's notice while the board looks for a replacement.
More broadly, the travel and leisure sector was lifted by a report the German government plans to end a travel warning for tourist trips to 31 European countries from 15 June and Spain’s announcement that it will lift its 14-day quarantine for overseas arrivals from 1 July.
Cruise operator Carnival, Premier Inn owner Whitbread and hotel chain Intercontinental Hotels were all in the black.
Going the other way, pharmaceutical stocks were lower, with AstraZeneca and Hikma both firmly in the red.
FTSE 100 - Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 227.80p 19.39%
easyJet (EZJ) 653.40p 17.22%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 105.55p 13.28%
Carnival (CCL) 1,105.50p 12.62%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 313.20p 11.62%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,463.00p 10.35%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,833.50p 9.17%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,973.00p 8.94%
British Land Company (BLND) 376.60p 8.22%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,227.00p 8.11%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,664.00p -3.69%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,469.00p -3.63%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,964.00p -2.36%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,660.00p -2.32%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 8,246.00p -2.21%
Fresnillo (FRES) 777.80p -2.04%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,670.50p -1.74%
Tesco (TSCO) 223.40p -1.72%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,635.40p -1.67%
BT Group (BT.A) 114.00p -1.55%