FTSE 100 movers: BT Group recovers some ground; STJ boosted by upgrade

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 7,785.95 in afternoon trade on Friday.

BT Group was the standout gainer on the index, having tumbled on Thursday after it announced plans to cut 55,000 jobs.

St James’s Place was also a high riser after RBC Capital Markets upgraded its stance on the shares to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ and lifted the price target to 1,400p from 1,390p.

It said STJ has the strongest distribution model in UK wealth, and following a de-rating, the shares now stand out as offering value.

"Organic growth remains strong in absolute and relative terms whilst market expectations for flows now look achievable," it said. "The shares have typically tracked movements in the net cash result, where we expect double-digit growth."

JD Sports was the worst performer on the index after US peer Foot Locker slashed its guidance for the full year.

FTSE 100 - Risers

BT Group (BT.A) 145.15p 3.16%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 16,460.00p 2.36%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 649.80p 2.33%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,149.00p 2.13%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 814.00p 1.83%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,369.00p 1.74%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 236.50p 1.59%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,038.00p 1.57%
Prudential (PRU) 1,181.50p 1.50%
SSE (SSE) 1,863.50p 1.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 162.40p -5.94%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,329.00p -2.51%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,321.00p -1.64%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,271.00p -1.54%
Next (NXT) 6,612.00p -1.22%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 124.85p -1.15%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,034.00p -1.01%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 488.90p -0.93%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 638.20p -0.90%
BAE Systems (BA.) 984.00p -0.81%