FTSE 100 movers: IAG flies higher; BT drops on stake sale
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2 at 7,413.55 in afternoon trade on Friday as investors eyed a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the weekend.
Iberia and British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group was the standout gainer as Deutsche Bank included the stock in its top picks and as Goodbody said French airfare statistics show that long-haul pricing growth could bolster the company.
Burberry racked up strong gains as Goldman Sachs upped its stance on shares of the luxury fashion company to 'neutral' from 'sell' following underperformance, cutting the price target to 1,800p from 1,855p.
GS noted that Burberry has underperformed its peers in the luxury segment by 10% over three months, due to a lack of consensus earnings upgrades in "a strong luxury environment".
Glencore was in the green even as it emerged that the death toll from a landslide at its copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo had risen to 43.
Housebuilders Berkeley Group and Persimmon were on the rise as Tory leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson was said to be preparing an emergency budget for a no-deal Brexit, which includes an overhaul of stamp duty. According to The Times, Johnson is looking at abolishing the levy on homes worth less than £500,000. As it stands, only the first £125,000 of a property is exempt from stamp duty.
Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG, said: "Coming not long after we heard rumours that Jeremy Corbyn was considering applying capital gains tax on all residential sales, it is evident that the housebuilding sector would be materially affected by the outcome of the next general election.
"However, while we are seeing the sector gain ground in anticipation of a potentially stimulative cut in stamp duty, we must remember that the no-deal Brexit remains something that parliament has no majority to approve."
On the downside, BT Group was in the red as Orange sold its remaining $625m stake in the company.
FTSE 100 - Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 477.00p 5.00%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,865.00p 4.25%
Glencore (GLEN) 272.50p 3.26%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,690.03p 3.04%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 197.15p 3.00%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 5,868.00p 2.95%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,990.50p 2.74%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 774.00p 2.44%
British Land Company (BLND) 536.57p 2.01%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 293.90p 1.87%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,842.60p -2.50%
BT Group (BT.A) 196.42p -1.17%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,169.00p -1.15%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,091.00p -1.13%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 781.20p -1.06%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,528.00p -0.97%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 836.80p -0.88%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,383.00p -0.75%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,174.10p -0.66%
Next (NXT) 5,546.00p -0.64%