FTSE 100 movers: Old Mutual rallies as rand recovers; Antofagasta slides

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,525.67 in afternoon trade as the pound ticked up on the back of the latest election poll.

Insurer Old Mutual put in the best performance as the South African rand gained ground.

Royal Mail advanced after agreeing to sell two of the seven plots on the site of its former south London mail centre at Nine Elms site to US-based developer Greystar for £101m cash, which has appointed AIM-listed Telford Homes to deliver 894 build-to-rent homes.

AstraZeneca edged higher after announcing that a phase 3 trial of its cancer drug Lynparza met its primary endpoint.

Going the other way, Antofagasta was under the cosh as HSBC cut the stock to 'reduce' from 'hold' given the recent strength of the Chilean peso and the weak copper price. Falling copper prices also weighed on the miner.

Advertising giant WPP was on the back foot even as it announced that its global digital agency Wunderman has acquired digital transformation consultancy, The Cocktail, in Spain.

EasyJet and British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group were flying lower, with market participants pointing to jitters following the terror attacks in London over the weekend that left seven dead and dozens injured.

Risers

Old Mutual (OML) 200.50p 1.78%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 348.40p 1.69%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 752.30p 0.98%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,494.00p 0.77%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 370.10p 0.65%
Royal Mail (RMG) 441.90p 0.64%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,007.00p 0.50%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 402.30p 0.45%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,386.00p 0.41%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,572.50p 0.41%

Fallers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 780.00p -3.11%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,353.00p -2.59%
Sage Group (SGE) 711.50p -2.40%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 525.50p -2.14%
WPP (WPP) 1,719.00p -2.00%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 596.50p -1.81%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,149.00p -1.80%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,173.00p -1.68%
ITV (ITV) 188.20p -1.67%
Intu Properties (INTU) 267.50p -1.62%