Sector movers: Banks hit by BoE, tobacco and drinks continue rally
Only a few sectors were in positive territory on Thursday after the Bank of England and the European Commission both cut growth forecasts for the next two years.
With the BoE effectively also saying we should probably not expect a rate hike in 2019, banks were among the big fallers, with challengers CYBG and Metro Bank down more than 3%, RBS and Barclays both down more than 1.5%, but Lloyds and HSBC both down less than 1%.
Oil services was the FTSE 350 sector with the biggest overall drop, but this was because of the 28% plunge at Petrofac after former global sales chief David Lufkin pleaded guilty to eleven counts of bribery as part of an ongoing Serious Fraud Office investigation. The probe appeared to have widened to Saudi Arabia and Iraq since it first was announced by the SFO in 2017 as being focused on Central Asia.
While a number of Petrofac individuals and entities are alleged to have acted together with the Lufkin, Petrofac confirmed that no charges have been brought against any subsidiary or current employees and that no current Petrofac board member is alleged to have been involved.
The food processor sector was looking stale too, as pork specialist Cranswick tumbled 12% as it warned of the "challenging" commercial landscape.
Supermarkets were also dragged down by more of a one-off company issue, with any Ocado investors who bought into Tuesday's five-month high getting their fingers burnt as a fire smouldered for a third day at the company's Andover depot.
Top dog on Thursday was the healthcare equipment & services sector. Smith & Nephew performed more strongly than expected in the fourth quarter and launched five new strategic "imperatives" to reinforce medium-term prospects.
Defensive consumer staples of tobacco and beverages were the leading sectors once again.
Top performing sectors so far today
Health Care Equipment & Services 7,055.32 +1.74%
Tobacco 33,099.10 +1.56%
Beverages 23,709.23 +1.35%
Insurance (non-life) 3,134.69 +0.56%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 14,518.14 +0.56%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 10,452.70 -10.14%
Forestry & Paper 20,606.85 -3.38%
General Industrials 5,622.98 -2.12%
Food Producers & Processors 7,063.26 -1.79%
Food & Drug Retailers 3,849.57 -1.78%
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,140.05 -0.46%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,882.07 -1.00%
techMARK (TASX) 3,449.94 -0.39%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Compass Group (CPG) 1,762.00p 3.89%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,508.00p 3.18%
Diageo (DGE) 2,977.50p 1.79%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,486.00p 1.16%
Halma (HLMA) 1,496.00p 1.08%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,562.00p 1.05%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,564.00p 1.03%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,757.50p 0.88%
3i Group (III) 919.20p 0.81%
SEGRO (SGRO) 647.40p 0.65%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 952.80p -19.53%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 846.07p -12.63%
WPP (WPP) 810.00p -7.28%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 518.40p -5.05%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 336.40p -4.62%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,222.00p -3.64%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,833.50p -3.22%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 663.00p -2.86%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,015.00p -2.68%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 170.01p -2.49%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Beazley (BEZ) 519.50p 5.16%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 580.00p 2.38%
Indivior (INDV) 105.35p 2.28%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 265.43p 2.01%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,302.00p 1.40%
Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 324.86p 1.19%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 1,214.00p 1.17%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 579.00p 0.87%
Cobham (COB) 112.80p 0.85%
Superdry (SDRY) 512.50p 0.79%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 406.40p -27.30%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,641.65p -10.88%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 1,300.00p -4.34%
Premier Oil (PMO) 71.70p -4.14%
Capita (CPI) 113.95p -4.04%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 1,199.78p -3.86%
CYBG (CYBG) 196.00p -3.83%
FirstGroup (FGP) 91.30p -3.44%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,500.00p -3.10%
Jupiter European Opportunities Trust (JEO) 701.00p -2.91%