FTSE 100 movers: Stocks boosted as geopolitical jitters settle
The FTSE 100 was 0.89% higher at 7,361.50 in afternoon trade on Monday as equities bounced back from a turbulent prior week, with travel company TUI leading the charge off the back of an upgrade from Credit Suisse.
TUI saw its recommendation lifted to ‘neutral’ having previously been set at ‘underperform’, with analysts at the bank seeing value in relation to main competition Thomas Cook.
A host of firms from the financial sector saw their share prices boosted from the relative calm in geopolitical tensions, following last week’s risk-off due to a war of words between Donald Trump and North Korea.
Asian-focused Standard Chartered was one of the main benefactors, while Prudential, itself enjoying the benefits of expansion into Asia in recent years, also pushed higher after Legal & General floated its interest in a section of its annuity portfolio.
Provident Financial bucked that trend however to fall to the bottom of the index on Monday afternoon, compounding recent woes which have seen it plunge almost 40% in the last three months.
Business services firm Experian also had a stint at the bottom of the FTSE during the day after Morgan Stanley had downgraded the stock to ‘equal-weight’ off the back of increased regulatory attention.
Among the other fallers of note, Coca-Cola HBC lost its fizz despite reporting growth in its second-quarter earnings last week.
Accendo Markets’ analyst Henry Croft said investors welcomed the easing of tensions following last week’s losses.
“Global equities are making a positive start to the new week as the abatement of US-North Korean geopolitical tensions has lured investors back to risk assets after last week’s safe-haven flight,” Croft said.
“With both sides taking a step back from further escalation, many stocks that were sharply hit by last week’s sell-off have welcomed relief rallies as a result of bargain-hunting investors.”
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,364.95 0.75%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,679.84 0.69%
techMARK (TASX) 3,375.78 0.57%
FTSE 100 - Risers
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,300.00p 5.61%
Glencore (GLEN) 332.40p 3.23%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 773.60p 2.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,267.50p 2.34%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,365.50p 2.21%
British Land Company (BLND) 616.50p 1.90%
Prudential (PRU) 1,814.00p 1.77%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 261.60p 1.75%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 290.50p 1.61%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 425.10p 1.60%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Provident Financial (PFG) 1,941.00p -1.77%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,553.00p -1.50%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 322.50p -1.41%
Experian (EXPN) 1,500.00p -1.12%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 238.90p -1.12%
G4S (GFS) 296.30p -1.04%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,415.00p -0.80%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,541.00p -0.64%
Next (NXT) 4,372.00p -0.64%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 245.50p -0.61%