LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.6% to 7,285.11 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Compass was the standout gainer after it said first-half profit rose more than 5% as the catering company gained new business in North America and added UK defence contracts. Underlying operating profit for the six months to the end of March rose 5.8% to £951m from a year earlier as revenue increased 6.6% to £12.5bn. Pre-tax profit rose 7.4% to £852m, helped partly by currency swings.

On the downside, DIY chain owner Kingfisher fell even as it maintained full-year guidance and posted a 0.8% rise in first quarter sales on a like-for-like basis.

Shares in packaging group DS Smith were under pressure after Goodbody downgraded the stock to 'sell' to reflect a 13%-22% cut to FY20/21 EBITA estimates. It said a weak European pricing backdrop will lead to 5%-6% box price declines in the next 18 months.

Peer Smurfit Kappa was also on the back foot.

Miners retreated on the back of a series of data misses from China, as the country's fixed asset investment figures for April, retail sales and industrial production figures all missed analysts' forecasts.

Burberry was in the red ahead of its preliminary results on Thursday. UBS said that with the new collection from Riccardo Tisci hitting the shelves only at the end of fiscal Q4, it expects another relatively muted set of results.

"For Q419, within retail, we forecast Q4 organic sales growth of +3%, comprising +1% like-for-like, underlying space broadly flat and a +1% positive impact from retail calendar adjustments," it said.

"The market will likely be closely watching out for any commentary on the performance of Tisci's collection in store and any further signs of the turnaround being successful," UBS added.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Compass Group (CPG) 1,781.00p 3.04%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 581.60p 2.11%
DCC (DCC) 6,832.00p 1.67%
Halma (HLMA) 1,769.00p 1.58%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,774.00p 1.24%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,278.50p 1.11%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,532.40p 1.04%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 386.70p 1.02%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,949.50p 1.01%
Diageo (DGE) 3,312.50p 0.98%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Kingfisher (KGF) 235.00p -2.81%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 329.90p -2.43%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,150.00p -2.32%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 809.20p -1.96%
SSE (SSE) 1,089.50p -1.94%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 174.85p -1.88%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,878.40p -1.66%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,882.50p -1.62%
easyJet (EZJ) 984.30p -1.62%
Evraz (EVR) 571.20p -1.59%

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE