FTSE 100 movers: Old Mutual claws back last week's losses

The FTSE 100 has started the week on a rollercoaster, shifting between positive and negative territory throughout the day.

The market was back in the green by mid-afternoon Monday, up 7.63 points (0.13%)

Old Mutual rebounded after last week’s losses due to political issues in South Africa. A broker downgrade and weaker rand weighed on the stock on Thursday last week, compounded by South Africa's president unexpectedly sacking finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, replacing him with relatively unknown David van Rooyen. He has since been replaced with Pravin Gordhan, the country's third finance minister in a week and a man who held the post between 2009 and 2014. The stock clawed back quite a bit of ground on Monday, but still had a long way to go to get back to the levels it was at a week ago.

The supermarket sector is up as the countdown to Christmas continues. IG’s Chris Beauchamp said, “supermarkets are some of the main risers this morning, as investors look to pick up some bargains ahead of the big festive shopping push”. On top of that the Mail on Sunday reported that Sainsbury’s will not follow rivals Tesco and Morrisons by closing stores, with its finance chief telling the paper the group is heading into Christmas with a ‘bounce in its step’.

And over at Morrisons, the company announced its final new appointment to the board. Rooney Anand will join as a non-executive director and as senior independent director on 1 January 2016. The company said Anand, who is currently chief executive of Greene King, is a "highly experienced retail and fmcg (fast-moving consumer goods) executive".

Glencore plunged on the back of the commodities downturn with metal prices down, and oil sinking to below $35 a barrel earlier in the day. On top of that, the mining company reached a deal to sell its Optimum Coal Holdings unit to Oakbay Investments Group's Tegeta Exploration and Resources subsidiary for ZAR2.15bn (£93m).

Information services company Experian also sank after it announced it completed the sale of its consumer insights businesses Hitwise and Simmons to California-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $47m (£31.1m) and up to an additional $5m based on an earnout. Hitwise and Simmons provide consumer measurement and analytical services to marketers, media brands and advertising agencies. As part of its broader strategic review, Experian concluded these businesses provide limited synergies with the group’s core businesses.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Old Mutual (OML) 166.60p 7.00%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.60p 2.38%
Anglo American (AAL) 299.85p 2.36%
Tesco (TSCO) 147.05p 1.87%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,298.00p 1.80%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 141.40p 1.73%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,536.00p 1.64%
Sky (SKY) 1,073.00p 1.61%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,429.00p 1.56%
Barclays (BARC) 214.45p 1.54%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,053.00p -1.96%
Glencore (GLEN) 83.87p -1.76%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,225.00p -1.72%
Experian (EXPN) 1,142.00p -1.13%
Sage Group (SGE) 583.00p -1.02%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,077.00p -1.01%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 490.55p -0.97%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 687.60p -0.95%
BP (BP.) 334.90p -0.92%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 415.90p -0.91%