FTSE 100 movers: Next rallies but StanChart sinks again

London’s FTSE 100 was down 1% to 6,850.01 in afternoon trade.

Retailer Next was the standout gainer. Although it trimmed its full-year sales guidance after third-quarter retail sales fell almost 6%, it said profits would come in as expected thanks to cutting its cloth more severely.

EasyJet flew higher after HSBC upgraded the budget airline to ‘buy’ from ‘reduce’ and lifted the price target to 1,150p from 800p. The bank also upgraded Ryanair in the same note but highlighted its preference for EZJ, attributing it to the fact that it is currently trading on consensus margins below its cyclical mid-point, having faced a confluence of challenges from Brexit, terror attacks and operational instability.

Housebuilder Persimmon racked up healthy gains as it guided to higher full-year margins after 'encouraging' trading following the EU referendum but expressed caution about new land investment due to the uncertainty arisen since the vote.

In a trading update from 1 July to 1 November, the company said it expects the operating margin to improve in the second half of the year from 23.8% in the first half and said that cash balances at the end of the year are likely to increase from £570.4m last year.

Peer Hammerson was also in the black.

Randgold Resources and Fresnillo rallied as gold prices jumped, with investors scurrying for safe havens amid jitters about the US presidential election.

Asia-focused Standard Chartered was under the cosh for the second day running after its third-quarter results on Tuesday missed expectations. In the quarter ended 30 September, underlying pre-tax profit came in at $458m from a $139m loss in the same period a year ago, but this was below the $520m analysts had pencilled in.

Shares in aerospace and defence group Rolls-Royce fell after it announced the appointment of Andreas Schell as chief executive officer of its Power Systems division.

Risers

Next (NXT) 5,005.00p 4.05%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,543.00p 2.75%
easyJet (EZJ) 966.00p 2.71%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,535.00p 1.89%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,745.00p 1.57%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,387.00p 1.46%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,760.00p 1.32%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 346.40p 1.23%
Hammerson (HMSO) 553.00p 0.91%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,747.00p 0.75%

Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 650.10p -3.45%
3i Group (III) 653.50p -1.95%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,239.00p -1.59%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,081.50p -1.58%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,232.00p -1.58%
Experian (EXPN) 1,540.00p -1.53%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,306.00p -1.52%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 715.00p -1.52%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,166.00p -1.50%
Tesco (TSCO) 210.10p -1.45%