FTSE 100 movers: Avast surges on CMA news; Centrica hit by downgrade

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,423.26 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Avast shares rocketed after the Competition and Markets Authority provisionally cleared its $8.6bn acquisition by NortonLifeLock.

House builder Taylor Wimpey gained after saying it expects full-year profits to be at the upper end of forecasts as it reported a rise in interim earnings, driven by strong selling prices.

Endeavour also rose as it hiked its interim dividend by 43% and hailed "robust" first-half results.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce was up as it said the Spanish government had approved the sale of its ITP Aero subsidiary to a consortium of investors led by Bain Capital Private Equity.

On the downside, British Gas owner Centrica was weaker after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ at Citi, which pointed to a 70%+ absolute share price performance since the beginning of last year. The bank said that despite a solid set of first-half numbers, strong FY22 earnings outlook and some clarity on the use of its balance sheet, the share price momentum is likely to be overshadowed by politics in the coming months.

Kingfisher was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Societe Generale.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Avast (AVST) 682.40p 42.79%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 124.70p 3.87%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,053.50p 3.44%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 897.80p 3.24%
BP (BP.) 414.75p 2.83%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,663.00p 2.72%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 90.12p 2.64%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 8,324.00p 2.54%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,310.00p 2.26%
Entain (ENT) 1,231.50p 2.24%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Centrica (CNA) 86.12p -3.39%
Fresnillo (FRES) 688.40p -3.37%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,262.00p -2.13%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 156.10p -2.01%
Kingfisher (KGF) 244.70p -1.88%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 646.60p -1.64%
GSK (GSK) 1,672.60p -1.32%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,941.50p -1.27%
Tesco (TSCO) 262.70p -1.13%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 218.30p -1.09%