Sector movers: Financial services and tobacco given boosts
Parts of the financial services sector, banks, oil engineers and tobacco were notable risers on Tuesday.
In financial services, fund managers and wealth managers were generally higher, led by well-received results for Quilter after its maiden full year results following the spin-out from Old Mutual last June.
Quilter reported a fall in assets under management as positive net flows of £2.7bn were more than offset by negative market performance. It swung to a profit as margins improved and management's guidance gave strong guidance for cost optimisation and was bullish about coping with macroeconomic and market pressures in 2019.
Quilter rose 8%, while shares in Brewin Dolphin, Jupiter, Schroders and Man Group were all up between 1% and 3%.
Some in the sector were in the red, such as Equiniti, as its own set of final results were in line with expectation but some investors seemed unsatisfied. Broker Liberum said there was some disappointment over the three-month delay to the operational separation of the US business from Wells Fargo.
Charter Court and OneSavings Bank were both down a day after they both rose on news that merger talks were at an advanced stage.
Banks and housebuilders made gains even as earlier optimism about Theresa May's Brexit deal faded, with CYBG, HSBC, Persimmon, RBS, Lloyds, Barratt Developments and Berkeley and Taylor Wimpey all higher.
Lloyds was also given a boost as Goldman Sachs upped its stance to 'neutral' from 'sell', lifting the target price to 66p from 57p as tail risks recede. Analysts said their 'sell' thesis was predicated on the assumption that ring-fencing would result in lower mortgage pricing and thus adversely impact Lloyds’ profitability, with the bank forecasting two further base rate hikes in the UK.
Tobacco stocks were mixed, with BAT higher but Imperial flat, on the news that US President Donald Trump has proposed adding a "user fee" on e-cigarettes to fund regulatory oversight of new tobacco and nicotine products.
A new White House budget proposal estimated that the fee could bring in as much as $100m a year.
The oil services sector was led by Wood Group, which gained on the back of a multi-million dollar construction contract win from IR1 Group LLC, which is building the Red Rock Biofuels facility in Lakeview, Oregon. Wood is contracted to provide construction and mechanical services.
Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 5,802.90 +2.03%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 11,240.85 +1.75%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,542.61 +1.35%
Financial Services 10,004.93 +0.98%
Tobacco 36,072.67 +0.92%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Automobiles & Parts 6,383.09 -2.67%
Leisure Goods 7,282.99 -1.02%
Industrial Transportation 2,216.46 -0.71%
Forestry & Paper 19,779.42 -0.37%
Construction & Materials 5,643.76 -0.17%
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,152.06 0.30%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,132.58 0.21%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Schroders (SDR) 2,678.00p 2.64%
Evraz (EVR) 609.60p 2.42%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,021.50p 2.21%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,186.00p 2.11%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,226.00p 1.78%
ITV (ITV) 132.55p 1.77%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 180.95p 1.66%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 560.20p 1.63%
BT Group (BT.A) 218.27p 1.31%
Barclays (BARC) 163.00p 1.24%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
GVC Holdings (GVC) 564.00p -4.08%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 345.90p -2.15%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,688.00p -1.62%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 927.70p -1.31%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 531.40p -1.19%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,659.50p -1.07%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,902.50p -0.99%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 176.35p -0.90%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 757.40p -0.89%
Aviva (AV.) 418.15p -0.84%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 19.59p 9.14%
Quilter (QLT) 142.58p 7.97%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,178.00p 5.75%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,390.00p 5.52%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 474.00p 3.45%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 132.90p 3.22%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 103.20p 3.20%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 297.60p 3.05%
888 Holdings (888) 167.50p 3.01%
Genus (GNS) 2,430.00p 2.70%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Equiniti Group (EQN) 188.60p -7.09%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 200.65p -3.72%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 396.60p -3.36%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,194.00p -3.24%
Royal Mail (RMG) 247.50p -3.06%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 169.90p -2.75%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,129.80p -2.72%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 331.40p -2.70%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 309.10p -2.61%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 79.90p -2.44%