FTSE 100 movers: Gold miners retreat as sterling rallies

London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.41% in afternoon trade on Friday to 6,731.87 as the pound rallied.

Sterling rose 0.37% against the dollar to 1.2602 and increased 0.53% to 1.15889 against the euro.

Headline riser Marks & Spencer rebounded from its announcement that it was to close 60 stores as part of a turnaround plan and as the retailer gears up for Christmas.

Shares in BT Group bounced back from a three-year low on Thursday, as the telecommunications company barred Deutsche Telekom from selling its 12% stake in the company.

Sainsbury’s also recovered from Wednesday, when the supermarket posted that its pre-tax profit for the first half of the year slid by 10% to £372m.

EasyJet's shares rose after Berenberg started the budget airline at ‘buy’ with a 1,250p price target as consensus expectations have rebased, as currency weakness, Brexit and terror disruptions are likely to persist.

On the downside, Standard Chartered was weaker on its exposure to emerging markets, which could be hindered on protectionist policies affecting emerging markets increased on Donald Trump's ascendancy to the White House. The bank was also down following a report that it would seek to sell 70% of its private equity investments within 18 months to reduce risk.

Worries of capital outflows from emerging markets as US interest rates climbed higher, in part on the prospect for increased fiscal spending Stateside, also weighed on the likes of StanChart.

"The sell-off in EM financial markets following Donald Trump’s presidential victory suggests there has been some disruption to EM capital flows this month. So far, it doesn’t seem to have been as large as that following the UK’s Brexit vote, but the situation remains uncertain," analysts at Capital Economics said, referencing their Emerging Markets Capital Flows Monitor for October.

Investors also cooled on gold miners Fresnillo, Randgold Resources and Polymetal International as the price of the safe-haven asset was down 1.07% to $1,252.90 per troy ounce, giving back some gains made in the aftermath of Trump’s victory.

Royal Dutch Shell plunged as it announced plans to invest $10bn in Brazil over five years and as oil prices retreated.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 330.50p 4.32%
BT Group (BT.A) 360.05p 3.51%
Next (NXT) 5,045.00p 3.15%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,070.00p 3.08%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 237.40p 2.99%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,175.00p 2.11%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 474.40p 1.87%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,452.00p 1.86%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,590.00p 1.85%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 145.70p 1.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,441.00p -8.57%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,925.00p -7.20%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 615.70p -6.57%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,514.00p -4.84%
Polymetal International (POLY) 839.50p -4.60%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,046.50p -4.17%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 739.00p -4.09%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,956.00p -4.02%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,389.00p -3.94%
Old Mutual (OML) 184.50p -3.81%