FTSE 100 movers: Hikma's FDA concerns alleviated; market self-corrects Smiths

After a dip in early trading, the FTSE 100 crawled back into positive territory, with the market sitting at 6,271.61 by mid-afternoon Wednesday, up 2.85 points (0.05%).

Hikma Pharmaceuticals led the market risers after it revealed it had overcome concerns raised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over environmental monitoring issues at its Portugal plant. The FDA in October 2014 sent the company a "warning letter" flagging issues the issues. But Hikma said in a statement it had received a further letter from the FDA "closing out" the warning letter from last year.

J Sainsbury had further gains despite Citi downgrading the supermarket to ‘neutral’ on Tuesday, saying it was a "good house in a tough neighbourhood", with an encouraging response in sales volumes from Sainsbury’s recent initiatives that should allow it to ‘manage through’. However Citi forecasted negative like-for-like (LFL) sales and margin erosion for "this year, next year and probably the year after". It came just before data from Kantar showed Sainsbury's became the first major supermarket to claim a market share increase for over a year.

Tesco also continued to rise on the back of the same broker note after it was upgraded to ‘buy’. Citi thought Tesco "has the scope to be more competitive, to rebuild its profitability and to repair its balance sheet", that momentum in earnings before interest and tax is set to increase and if needed Tesco could sell further assets.

Antofagasta also saw gains on the market due to a broker note from Goldman Sachs, upgrading it to ‘neutral’ from ‘sell’. It noted that since being added to the ‘sell’ list in February, the stock is down 35% versus the FTSE World Europe down 8.3%. The bank attributed the underperformance to operational issues at Anto’s mines in Chile, a slump in copper prices, and a rich price paid for the 50% stake in the Zaldivar mine. It said that at the current depressed price and with spot copper prices now within around 5% of its trough forecasts, the risk/reward for the stock is balanced.

However Smiths Group was the market’s biggest faller as the market corrected itself from a flurry of activity yesterday. The company announced that lower pension scheme contributions will lead to an extra £36m annualised free cash flow by 2017. Expectations for the full year remained "broadly unchanged" and after meeting divisional chiefs and visiting major locations he saw "clear potential" for operational improvements across the business.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,012.00p 3.02%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 255.70p 2.94%
Glencore (GLEN) 90.97p 2.41%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 483.50p 2.35%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,582.00p 1.74%
Tesco (TSCO) 171.65p 1.57%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 409.80p 1.54%
Anglo American (AAL) 436.35p 1.24%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,444.00p 1.16%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,635.50p 1.08%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smiths Group (SMIN) 993.00p -2.65%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 577.00p -2.45%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 546.50p -1.53%
Intu Properties (INTU) 319.70p -1.48%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,688.00p -1.29%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,486.00p -1.28%
Kingfisher (KGF) 346.10p -1.26%
Next (NXT) 7,765.00p -1.21%
British Land Company (BLND) 828.50p -1.19%
St James's Place (STJ) 964.00p -1.13%