London close: FTSE profit taking kicks shares into red
UK stocks were lacklustre on Friday as oil and stocks plunged but investors mulled yet more waxing and waning of Brexit negotiations, proving that uncertainty is the only certainty surrounding the issue.
As per usual, investors took their cue from US markets in the afternoon which saw some money coming off the table taking the market from the day's high of 7,516.70 to below 7,440 by mid afternoon before ending the session at 7,452.91.
The FTSE250 saw similar moves coming off the high of the day 19,831.93 to trade at 19,650 before closing the week at 19,751.24.
Sterling saw a high against the dollar today of 1.3020 before trading almost flat for the day at 1.2974 as dealers mulled over data released by the Office of National Statistics showed a budget surplus of £6.3bn versus a consensus forecast of £4.3bn.
On the corporate front, Vodafone saw one of the strongest rises after reporting a 2.2% increase in first quarter organic service revenue to €11.5bn, supported by growth in all its operations excluding India and UK markets, closing the session at 226.00, up 0.49% on the day.
British sporting goods retailer Sports Direct also saw a good day of trading seeing a decent rally on their share price of 5.37% to close the session at 353.10. The company is also said to be making arrangements to replace its £788m revolving working capital facility due to mature in September 2018.
Acacia Mining said that its aims to reinstate dividend payments by early 2018 if the concentrate exports ban imposed by Tanzania is lifted. The Tanzanian government have agreed to hold talks with majority owners Barrick Gold regarding this, but negotiations have yet to begin. Since the ban was imposed in March, Acacia's value has almost halved and cash is down around 45%.
Falling the furthest was Paddy Power Betfair after the bookmaker's shares were downgraded to 'sell' from 'buy' by Investec ahead of what analysts think will be disappointing interim results on 8 August, though it still feels the company is well placed in the long run. Furthermore, the target price was cut to £69.70 from £100 due to lower forecasts and a worsening medium-term regulatory outlook in the UK and Australia.
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline's new boss, Emma Walmsley, has made her mark by stating intention to divest some nutritional products such as Horlicks and MaxNutrition. Walmsley was appointed chief executive in March this year and despite her non-pharmaceutical background considers improving drug research productivity as her top priority. Glaxo traded 0.62% lower.
Other healthcare stocks topped the FTSE 100 as the risk-off mood and sea of red across stock markers led some investors to shore up their portfolio with some defensive names. British American Tobacco is another such defensive play to gain by the shift, which also saw the price of gold climb to a month's high. AstraZeneca was also boosted as chief executive Pascal Soriot played down recent rumours that he was to leave the London-listed drug giant.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,452.91 -0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,751.24 -0.06%
techMARK (TASX) 3,529.83 -0.08%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,156.50p 1.86%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 313.20p 1.66%
Next (NXT) 3,827.00p 1.16%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,485.00p 1.11%
3i Group (III) 934.50p 0.75%
Prudential (PRU) 1,800.00p 0.70%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 922.00p 0.60%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,353.00p 0.59%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,152.00p 0.57%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 375.70p 0.54%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
G4S (GFS) 330.00p -3.17%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,195.00p -2.53%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,568.00p -2.49%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,540.00p -2.14%
DCC (DCC) 6,940.00p -1.98%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,500.00p -1.81%
GKN (GKN) 326.10p -1.81%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,315.00p -1.74%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,312.00p -1.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 313.55p -1.62%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 579.00p 6.83%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 353.10p 5.37%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 780.00p 3.68%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,120.00p 3.41%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 739.50p 2.85%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,419.00p 2.75%
IP Group (IPO) 143.80p 2.71%
Softcat (SCT) 392.00p 2.54%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,470.00p 2.51%
Synthomer (SYNT) 499.90p 2.44%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Acacia Mining (ACA) 232.40p -17.24%
Carillion (CLLN) 59.95p -6.62%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 410.00p -4.43%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 381.20p -3.52%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 301.20p -3.21%
Homeserve (HSV) 710.00p -3.14%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 302.90p -2.76%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 150.20p -2.72%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 266.90p -2.70%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 341.30p -2.60%