By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 28 May 2020
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 1.1% at 6,213.85 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Asset manager M&G was the standout gainer a day after saying it will pay out £410m in dividends this month.
EasyJet flew higher after it announced plans to cut about 4,500 jobs, or 30% of its workforce, as the airline prepares to restart flying with a smaller fleet and reduced demand as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Investors welcomed news that booking trends on resumed flights are encouraging and demand for summer is increasing from a low base, while winter bookings are well ahead of a year earlier, including customers rebooking cancelled flights.
On the downside, Rolls-Royce was under pressure after AKO Capital sold its 5.2% stake in the aerospace and defence giant.
Asia-focused Standard Chartered and HSBC were under the cosh amid unrest in Hong Kong.
IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "It is not so long ago that these two were meant to be the future, powering ahead in key growth regions while UK-focussed names lag behind.
"But political upheaval in Hong Kong and the US-China situation continue to act as a drag on share prices, with no sign that either of these situations will change in the near-term."
Tobacco company Imperial Brands was lower as its stock went ex-dividend.
FTSE 100 - Risers
M&G (MNG) 150.00p 7.14%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 127.10p 7.12%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,580.00p 6.76%
Evraz (EVR) 290.70p 6.56%
easyJet (EZJ) 749.40p 5.76%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,590.00p 5.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 785.20p 4.58%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 525.20p 4.46%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,978.00p 4.11%
ITV (ITV) 84.42p 3.99%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 319.00p -7.83%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 396.20p -3.69%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 383.30p -3.35%
British Land Company (BLND) 396.20p -2.89%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,491.00p -1.84%
Meggitt (MGGT) 299.30p -1.80%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,654.00p -1.63%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 343.90p -1.46%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,861.50p -1.27%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 543.20p -1.24%
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