FTSE 100 movers: Banks boosted by Italy news; gold miners lose shine
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.7% to 7,472.51 in afternoon trade as it emerged that Prime Minister Theresa May has agreed a confidence and supply deal with Northern Ireland's controversial Democratic Unionist Party that will allow her to cling to power.
Bank shares got a boost as the Italian government was forced to bail out two banks in the Venice region at a cost of £4.6bn. The good assets of Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca will be taken on by Intesa Sanpaolo for €1 while the bad assets will be left on the government's books, in a rescue Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said was to ensure "the good health of our banking system".
RBS, HSBC Holdings and Barclays were all in the black.
Going the other way, precious metals miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources lost their shine as gold price retreated. Earlier on Monday gold sold off heavily, hitting its lowest level since the middle of May. Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "A sustained break below $1,240 could trigger a move back towards $1,220, which has been a very notable level on numerous occasions this year."
Provident Financial was on the back foot after RBC Capital Markets cut its stance on the subprime lender to 'sector perform' from 'outperform' and slashed the price target to 2,650p from 3,400p following a warnings over its consumer credit division last week, which sent the shares sharply lower.
"Provident’s profit warning came 11 weeks after its Capital Markets Day and just over five weeks after its Q1/17 IMS. As such, we view it as a self-inflicted wound for management and believe it will take (at least) several quarters for management to rebuild credibility and assure the market that its plans are working."
Mediclinic was also in the red as Investec downgraded it to 'hold' from 'buy'. "Our analysis gives us comfort that the new FY18 guidance is achievable, and we adopt a more positive stance than guidance in the UAE. However our expectation for Rand depreciation leaves our EPS forecasts some 12% below consensus," the brokerage said.
Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 613.50p 2.51%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,366.00p 2.17%
Standard Life (SL.) 396.60p 1.77%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 249.90p 1.75%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,026.00p 1.69%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 691.80p 1.63%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 751.00p 1.62%
Prudential (PRU) 1,826.00p 1.61%
Barclays (BARC) 200.70p 1.59%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,151.00p 1.59%
Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,564.00p -2.55%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,385.00p -2.25%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,010.00p -1.48%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 929.50p -1.33%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 750.00p -0.92%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,343.00p -0.68%
Informa (INF) 690.50p -0.65%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,047.00p -0.53%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 768.50p -0.45%
Royal Mail (RMG) 429.80p -0.44%