FTSE 100 movers: Pearson pummeled as easyJet climbs

Education publisher Pearson was under the cosh as it went ex-dividend and following a downbeat note by Exane BNP Paribas.

Aviva and Lloyds, Paddy Power and St James's Place were also lower after going ex-dividend.

Budget airline easyJet flew higher as it reported a 10.6% increase in passenger numbers for March to 6.33m, while the load factor – which gauges how full the planes actually are – rose 1.4 percentage points to 92.7%.

Unilever advanced as it said that alongside new plans to "go faster and further" with its restructuring programme, it has upped its annual dividend guidance and launched a €5bn share buyback. It also confirmed it will sell off its spreads business.

British Land gained ground after Exane BNP Paribas upped the stock to 'outperform' from 'neutral'.

Electrocomponents was also in the black after it said results for the year to the end of March 2017 are likely to be ahead of its previous expectations, with pre-tax profit ahead of the current market consensus range of between £122.3m and £124.2m, following a strong final quarter.

Go-Ahead was boosted by an upgrade at Liberum, while Countryside Properties and Redrow were lifted by upgrade from JP Morgan Cazenove, but Bovis Homes was hit by a downgrade from the same outfit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,304.61 -0.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,060.30 -0.05%
techMARK (TASX) 3,422.21 -0.44%

FTSE 100 - Risers

easyJet (EZJ) 1,035.00p 1.77%
British Land Company (BLND) 631.00p 1.45%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,258.00p 1.37%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,083.00p 1.12%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 862.00p 1.06%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 785.50p 0.90%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,972.00p 0.82%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,586.00p 0.76%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,116.00p 0.76%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,286.00p 0.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 625.50p -8.35%
Aviva (AV.) 514.50p -2.83%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.89p -2.44%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,390.00p -2.27%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,034.00p -1.80%
WPP (WPP) 1,710.00p -1.67%
Sky (SKY) 958.00p -1.44%
GKN (GKN) 351.90p -1.40%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,789.50p -1.40%
Next (NXT) 4,052.00p -1.39%