FTSE 100 movers: CRH higher on merger agreement, Next hit by downgrade

CRH was the biggest gainer on the Footsie after building materials giants Lafarge and Holcim agreed upon terms for a merger.

Shares in Tullow Oil surged after the West Africa-focused exploration outfit announced it had successfully negotiated for access to £450m in fresh financing.

Morrison was also trading higher, after revealing that its new boss David Potts bought over £1m worth of shares in the company just days after joining the struggling chain, with the job of trying to turn it around.

Miners Fresnillo, Anglo American and Rio Tinto were all making gains on the rising three-month copper futures, which were 1.5% higher.

Meanwhile, Next was in the red as analysts at Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’. The broker cited a reduced profit stream from credit customers, lower guidance on sales and the company’s admission that UK director may now be ex-growth as the factors driving the rating lower.

Centrica dipped as Moody’s lowered their user rating and senior unsecured ratings of Centrica from to Baa1 from A3. The ratings action came after the close of markets on Thursday, an indication of lower energy prices and generally poorer trading conditions.

Risers
CRH (CRH) 1,852.00p +5.77%
Fresnillo (FRES) 703.50p +3.61%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,082.50p +3.49%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,205.00p +2.47%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,520.00p +2.32%
Glencore (GLEN) 292.35p +2.31%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 316.20p +2.13%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,901.00p +1.95%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,811.00p +1.80%
BG Group (BG.) 874.20p +1.71%

Fallers
Persimmon (PSN) 1,679.00p -5.57%
Next (NXT) 7,215.00p -1.37%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,114.00p -1.30%
Kingfisher (KGF) 370.50p -1.04%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 290.20p -0.92%
Diageo (DGE) 1,923.50p -0.88%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,044.00p -0.56%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,985.00p -0.55%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,573.00p -0.51%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,568.00p -0.50%