FTSE 100 movers: Johnson Matthey, Barratt Developments pace gains

Shares in Johnson Matthey continued to charge higher, a day after it predicted "break out" growth at its electric vehicle battery unit.

On the back of that news, the share price hit a fresh 52-week high on Friday, with the stock left trading just a shade below its best levels in five years.

Stock in Barratt Developments was right behind after JP Morgan upgraded its view on the shares of the homebuilder from 'neutral' to 'overweight'.

Shares of miners were also changing hands near the top of the leaderboard, on the back of what economists termed a solid reading on Caixin's factory sector purchasing managers' index for May, which printed at 51.1 (consensus: 51.2), the same as in the month before.

Nevertheless, analysts at Capital Economics cautioned that the rebound in Chinese manufacturing sector activity was unlikely to be sustained for long in the face of the slowdown in property construction and credit growth.

Solid readings on the state of the US jobs market and factory sector also contributed to the advance, feeding gains in base metals' prices.

Against that backdrop, shares of Anglo American, Glencore, Evraz, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto were all wanted, as copper futures gained.

To take note of, nickel futures were also sharply higher, with the three-month LME contract finishing the day at $15,445 per metric tonne, versus a Thursday close of $15,100.

Analysts at SP Angel referenced production cuts across China as the main reason behind that move, saying that they were rapidly depleting inventories and pushing steel prices higher.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,655.00p 4.04%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,845.20p 2.67%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 559.80p 2.60%
Glencore (GLEN) 381.20p 2.46%
Evraz (EVR) 522.60p 2.31%
BAE Systems (BA.) 653.07p 2.14%
G4S (GFS) 275.50p 2.07%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 357.70p 2.05%
Barclays (BARC) 200.85p 1.83%
Prudential (PRU) 1,839.50p 1.57%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

NMC Health (NMC) 3,412.00p -3.18%
Royal Mail (RMG) 496.20p -2.51%
Diageo (DGE) 2,716.00p -1.68%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,035.00p -1.59%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,309.50p -1.43%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 352.80p -1.31%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,597.00p -1.27%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,351.50p -1.24%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,823.00p -1.19%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,010.00p -1.10%