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FTSE 100 movers: Housebuilders rally; DS Smith hit by downgrade

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Monday 06 Jul 2020

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 1.6% at 6,257.52 in afternoon trade on Monday.
Barratt Developments was the standout gainer as it said its current forward order book was strong with sales ahead of the same time last year as it emerged from the coronavirus lockdown that closed all its sites.

The sector was also boosted by reports that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce plans this week to raise the threshold at which people start paying stamp duty to as much as £500,000 from £125,000. Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey also rose.

Rolls-Royce was in the black, having fallen sharply on Friday after saying it was in the early stages of reviewing options to strengthen its balance sheet and position itself for recovery after the Covid-19 crisis.

On the downside, paper and packaging group DS Smith was weaker after Jefferies cut its stance on the stock to 'hold' saying there were no events in sight to prompt a re-rating of the shares.

Analyst Cole Hathorn upgraded DS Smith to 'buy' in early April based on expected demand for the company's cardboard packaging boxes from food and consumer goods sellers.

But Hathorn said DS Smith's first-half results were disappointing, including the scrapping of the interim dividend, prompting him to cut his earnings forecast for 2020-21 by about 10% due to cost and pricing pressures. This pushes back plans for debt reduction that could have put the company in a position to make capital investments or buy smaller rivals, Hathorn said.



FTSE 100 - Risers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 526.20p 7.32%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 281.20p 6.84%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 405.65p 5.78%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 688.20p 5.46%
Prudential (PRU) 1,260.00p 4.65%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,360.00p 4.47%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 142.95p 4.34%
British Land Company (BLND) 405.80p 4.32%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 453.20p 4.18%
Evraz (EVR) 293.90p 4.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 282.20p -3.16%
ITV (ITV) 70.50p -1.97%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,954.00p -0.94%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,621.50p -0.83%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 183.95p -0.76%
BT Group (BT.A) 110.65p -0.63%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,270.00p -0.35%
Experian (EXPN) 2,883.00p -0.35%
Pearson (PSON) 572.20p -0.31%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,021.00p -0.30%

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