Sector movers: Banks lead FTSE 100 higher as tobacco stocks recover
Positivity in the banking sector along with a recovery run staged by tobacco and oil and gas shares helped the FTSE 100 return to green territory, in the penultimate day of trading before the Easter break in trading.
Banks
3,882.59
17:14 18/04/24
Barclays
183.98p
16:39 18/04/24
FTSE 100
7,877.05
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 250
19,450.67
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 350
4,334.00
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,290.02
16:54 18/04/24
HSBC Holdings
644.60p
16:39 18/04/24
Lloyds Banking Group
51.00p
16:35 18/04/24
NATWEST GROUP
275.40p
16:40 18/04/24
Standard Chartered
661.60p
17:05 18/04/24
At 16:25 on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 was trading up 0.63% or 42.92 points at 6815.96. Industrial metals and mining stocks staged a rebound with Fresnillo (up 2.78%) and Randgold Resources (up 2.54%) featuring among the day’s top five performers.
Despite concerns over the persistently low oil price, oil and gas shares also recovered after Shell (up 1.34%) was given the green light by the US government to restart an exploration drive in the Alaskan Arctic. Fellow blue chips BP (1.37%) and BG Group (up 2.64%) also finished in the green.
Tobacco stocks also staged a recovery following a dire trading session on Tuesday driven by concerns that the Lorrillard-Reynolds merger will fall apart. Imperial Tobacco was up 2.77% while rival British American Tobacco was up 1.53%.
However, the session belonged to banking sector stocks after an upbeat forecast by analysts from Morgan Stanley. In their take on the industry, the analysts named Barclays and Lloyds among their most preferred stocks in the European banking and financial sector. Both were rated 'overweight'.
Global banks Standard Chartered and HSBC were rated 'underweight' while Royal Bank of Scotland was labelled 'equal weight'. Morgan Stanley, said it was "cautiously optimistic" about current conditions in the sector and lifted target prices for UK banks by 5-10%.
Furthermore, Lloyds also benefited from a ratings upgrade to 'hold' by Jefferies who forecast a "more meaningful dividend" this year.
Barclays topped all London-listed shares rising 2.95% or 7.15p to 249.75. However, Standard Chartered went contrary to the trend shedding 10.50p or 0.96% to 1083p on a day when UK banking stocks rose an average of 1.2% in late afternoon trading.
Top 5 Sectors:
Industrial Metals & Mining 1934.29 +85.69 +4.64%
Tobacco 41812.81 +722.75 +1.76%
Oil & Gas Producers 7029.84 +116.65 +1.69%
Banks 4353.94 +54.38 +1.26%
Gas, Water & Multiutilities +5870.70 +71.59 1.23%