FTSE 100 movers: Miners shine but Hikma slumps on Advair news
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,374.19 in afternoon trade as investors digested the latest policy announcement and inflation report from the Bank of England.
Heavily-weighted mining stocks were the standout gainers as silver and copper prices advanced, with Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Randgold Resources, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American all higher.
On the downside, Hikma Pharmaceuticals tumbled after US regulators decided not to approve its generic copy of GlaxoSmithKline's lung drug Advair due to "major" issues with its application.
Paper and packaging group Mondi was under pressure after it said first-quarter underlying operating profit fell 6% to €252m as strong sales volume growth was more than offset by a significantly lower forestry fair value gain, inflationary cost pressures and lower average selling prices
British Gas owner Centrica was under the cosh as JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the stock to 'underweight' from 'overweight' and slashed the price target to 180p from 265p, highlighting the "unsettling reality" of UK supply market changes.
Centrica was also weaker as its stock went ex-dividend, along with Admiral.
BT Group was in the red as it posted a big drop in annual profits, as expected, and announced it was stepping up its cost cutting programme by axeing 4,000 jobs, while also revealing it was trimming executive pay after a challenging year.
Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,489.00p 4.05%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 788.00p 3.62%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 756.30p 2.98%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,085.00p 2.68%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,661.00p 2.22%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,182.00p 1.55%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 388.30p 1.28%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,016.00p 1.28%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 296.40p 1.23%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,054.00p 1.20%
Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,822.00p -6.85%
Centrica (CNA) 189.90p -6.55%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 261.20p -3.86%
ITV (ITV) 190.00p -3.16%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,041.00p -3.09%
Next (NXT) 4,283.00p -2.68%
BT Group (BT.A) 303.60p -2.66%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 196.30p -2.09%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,996.00p -1.87%
Tesco (TSCO) 180.10p -1.77%