Top Movers

London midday: Stocks turn lower as pound claws back losses

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Friday 16 Nov 2018

London midday: Stocks turn lower as pound claws back losses

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had fallen into the red by midday on Friday, with the pound clawing back some of the previous session's losses as investors kept up with the latest twists and turns in the Brexit saga.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,018.58, while the pound was up 0.3% against the dollar and the euro at 1.2815 and 1.1314, respectively, a day after suffering its worst day since the October 2016 'flash crash' in the wake of a number of key cabinet resignations.

One minister, Michael Gove, Environment Secretary and a staunch Brexiter, confirmed reports that he had turned down the role of Brexit Secretary but said he was not quitting cabinet over the Brexit deal and would say on to help May to sell her deal to parliament. "It's absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, it was understood that Liam Fox, Chris Grayling, Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt have also agreed to stay on.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said sterling was "taking good news where it could get it", managing a "meek rebound" as investors processed the latest "non-resignations".

Nevertheless, political uncertainty meant there wasn't too much room for gains on the stock market, amid speculation that a vote of no confidence could take place as early as Tuesday. Following hardline Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg example, Tory Brexiters John Whittingdale and Mark Francois also submitted letters of no-confidence in Theresa May as party leader, raising the possibility that the 48-letter threshold needed to trigger a vote could be reached on Friday.

There was no let-up for stocks with exposure to the UK such as banks and housebuilders, with RBS, Lloyds, Persimmon and Barratt Developments all in the red.

AstraZeneca retreated as it said that a phase 3 trial of its Imfinzi drug showed that it was no better than chemotherapy in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread to other organs.

Shire fell even as the biopharmaceutical group said that a phase 3 trial of its lanadelumab drug showed that it significantly reduced the number of attacks of hereditary angioedema in patients treated with 300 mg every two weeks.

On the upside, safety and health technology group Halma gained as it announced the acquisition of radar surveillance and safety solutions provider Navtech Radar for £21m on a cash- and debt-free basis, funded from Halma's existing facilities.

Cigarette maker Imperial Brands was in the green after saying it was developing a version of electronic cigarettes that could be locked to prevent possible underage use, after a fresh US regulatory crackdown on vaping. The announcement from Imperial came a day after the US Food and Drug Administration announced new restrictions on flavoured e-cigs.

Kier rallied as the construction company expressed confidence about meeting its full year 2019 expectations and said that its order books and development pipelines remain strong.

Gold miner Centamin shone after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley, while outsourcer Capita was on the front foot following heavy losses earlier in the week, when it came under fire for an NHS cervical cancer screening blunder.



Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,018.58 -0.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,666.95 0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 3,384.37 -0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,451.00p 2.87%
Halma (HLMA) 1,344.00p 2.67%
Experian (EXPN) 1,880.50p 2.01%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,653.50p 1.92%
3i Group (III) 804.20p 1.82%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 790.00p 1.67%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,998.00p 1.52%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,288.00p 1.51%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,856.50p 1.47%
Rightmove (RMV) 438.05p 1.39%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 216.78p -3.31%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 176.90p -3.07%
Fresnillo (FRES) 825.00p -2.94%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 6,138.00p -2.83%
Royal Mail (RMG) 317.20p -2.52%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 54.29p -2.09%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,722.00p -1.91%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,140.00p -1.79%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,150.00p -1.46%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,584.00p -1.40%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,002.00p 5.42%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 305.20p 4.48%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 102.25p 4.10%
Kier Group (KIE) 851.00p 3.15%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 220.50p 3.04%
Investec (INVP) 500.20p 2.92%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 158.98p 2.86%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 287.60p 2.86%
Polymetal International (POLY) 758.60p 2.85%
Capita (CPI) 110.35p 2.75%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 185.30p -4.48%
Rank Group (RNK) 153.80p -3.63%
Grainger (GRI) 264.00p -3.23%
CYBG (CYBG) 255.00p -3.04%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,596.00p -3.04%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,313.00p -2.60%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 105.30p -2.50%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,008.00p -2.37%
Softcat (SCT) 633.00p -2.16%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,272.00p -2.15%

..

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:


Top of Page