FTSE 100 movers: Gold stocks shine; Convatec slumps on placing

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,514.94 in afternoon trade as investors digested polls suggesting the Tory lead over Labour has narrowed further.

Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were the standout gainers as gold prices rallied amid geopolitical concerns.

Budget airline easyJet flew higher after it said passenger numbers rose 9.5% to 7.51m in May, while the load factor - which gauges how full the planes are - was unchanged at 91.5%. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers rose 8.2% to 77.33m and the load factor ticked up to 91.9% from 91.4%.

Reckitt Benckiser got a boost as Citigroup, which rates the stock at 'buy', said it sees the potential for double-digit earnings per share growth over 2018 to 2020.

On the downside, medical technology company Convatec was under the cosh as Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Holdings sold 250m shares in the group at 322p per share, raising gross proceeds of £805m. Following the placing, which was conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild, Nordic will own 143.2m shares or 7.3%, while Avista will own 58.2m shares or 3%.

Luxury fashion retailer Burberry was weaker after HSBC downgraded its stance on the stock to 'reduce' from 'hold' and cut the price target to 1,580p from 1,630p. The bank said there were "many uncertainties" ahead of the CEO officially taking over in July and it "would sit this one out".

RBS was also on the back foot as the group representing thousands of investors in a legal claim over its 2008 rights issue said they would settle.

Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,660.00p 2.34%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,665.00p 2.20%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,359.00p 1.12%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 687.20p 0.85%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 8,052.00p 0.81%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,703.00p 0.71%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,007.00p 0.64%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,499.00p 0.60%
British Land Company (BLND) 629.50p 0.40%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 404.00p 0.40%

Fallers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 325.70p -5.32%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 508.00p -3.05%
Kingfisher (KGF) 317.00p -2.94%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,757.00p -2.93%
Old Mutual (OML) 195.60p -2.93%
GKN (GKN) 346.90p -2.23%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,161.00p -1.94%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 305.10p -1.93%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 255.00p -1.81%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,023.00p -1.75%