Sector movers: Resources rise, defensives down
Industrial metals, miners and oil stocks were the driving force on Friday, amid upbeat reports on US-China trade talks, while telecoms and utilities were lower.
London investors awoke to comments from President Trump overnight, after a meeting with Chinese vice Premier Liu He. Trump said that a trade deal between the two nations was about four weeks away, with some sticking points remaining, adding that the two sides had agreed "a lot of the most difficult points" but still had some way to go.
Mining stocks rebounded after a slide the day before, market analysts noted, while Brent Crude remains close to four-month $70 highs.
This would normally benefit the oil majors BP and Shell, but this was countered by a stronger pound in morning trading, said Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets. "The same is true of the miners, whose wares are also denominated in dollars and sensitive to China demand."
The mobile telecoms sector was down, led by Vodafone as Barclays cut its target price, while the company said it had concluded its €20bn debt funding and was reported to be in talks about a Spanish partnership.
Barclays cut its share price target to 200p from 205p as earnings per share forecasts for the 2020 financial year were cut 5%. Analysts updated their forecast model and now predict the telecoms giant's EBITDA will be 1% or €139m lower than previously expected "reflecting a greater regulatory drag in the UK, slightly lower wholesale in Germany and lower South Africa margins", with free cash flow by 1.5% of €79m with lower EBITDA somewhat offset by lower capex.
Vodafone and Orange are also in talks about potentially sharing 5G networks in Spain, French title L’Expansion reported.
Elsewhere, Vodafone sold $2bn of hybrid securities at 4.38% to conclude the funding to acquire Liberty Global's assets in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. its at an average interest rate of 2.3% and nine-years
Utilities were down, with shares in British Gas owner Centrica knocked lower by a downgrade to 'add' at AlphaValue, while gas, water and electricity companies were all lower on political uncertainty.
Power generator ContourGlobal was a single exception as it reported crackling full-year revenue profit. EBITDA was up 19% to $610m, with the dividend up 12% and directors pledging to increase the dividend by around 10% a year going forward and setting guidance for 2019 adjusted EBITDA at $720-770m.
Top performing sectors so far today
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 7,612.59 +1.74%
Industrial Metals & Mining 6,142.38 +1.64%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 11,255.53 +1.63%
Mining 20,863.11 +1.31%
Life Insurance 7,991.10 +1.29%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Mobile Telecommunications 3,207.63 -1.89%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,131.02 -1.51%
Electricity 7,014.96 -1.25%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,623.28 -1.16%
Industrial Transportation 2,278.55 -1.15%
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,433.39 0.42%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,501.71 -0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 3,562.60 0.11%
FTSE 100 - Risers
NMC Health (NMC) 2,539.00p 3.04%
Prudential (PRU) 1,678.00p 2.54%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,179.00p 1.94%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 920.47p 1.82%
Halma (HLMA) 1,781.50p 1.71%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,352.00p 1.67%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,663.35p 1.63%
WPP (WPP) 866.00p 1.62%
Evraz (EVR) 648.20p 1.60%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 528.50p 1.54%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 141.40p -2.12%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 516.20p -1.60%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,783.00p -1.56%
BT Group (BT.A) 223.66p -1.47%
SSE (SSE) 1,151.50p -1.45%
Centrica (CNA) 110.59p -1.30%
British Land Company (BLND) 597.80p -1.29%
Barclays (BARC) 162.80p -1.13%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,366.00p -1.06%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 237.20p -1.04%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 209.00p 6.09%
Contour Global (GLO) 193.20p 5.92%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 214.00p 4.39%
Just Group (JUST) 64.10p 3.05%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 124.60p 2.98%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 282.50p 2.91%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 21.00p 2.63%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 83.00p 2.47%
Spectris (SXS) 2,699.00p 2.47%
Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE) 292.99p 2.45%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 136.20p -7.66%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 86.20p -6.71%
Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 320.00p -6.71%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,911.00p -3.78%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 845.50p -3.76%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 521.80p -3.51%
Hammerson (HMSO) 336.80p -3.11%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,066.00p -3.09%
Royal Mail (RMG) 255.20p -3.08%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 111.60p -2.96%