FTSE 100 movers: Pharmaceuticals on the front foot; Direct Line gives back gains

The FTSE 100 rose 0.21% to 6,843.57 in afternoon trade amid thin volumes.

Liberum upgraded AstraZeneca to ‘buy’ from ‘hold,’ sending its share up. Despite concerns about the risks to the company’s global Phase 3 study of durvalumab, MYSTIC, earnings weakness and bid speculation unwinding, Liberum said it “can’t ignore that the risk/reward going into a rich seam of catalysts is now strongly to the upside”.

GlaxoSmithKline advanced as it announced the regulatory submission of a marketing authorisation application to the European Medicines Agency for approval of its candidate shingles vaccine, Shingrix.

The phase III clinical trial of the vaccine – for the prevention of shingles in people over 50 and its complications – showed that by reducing the incidence of shingles, the candidate vaccine also reduced the overall incidence of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a form of chronic pain associated with the condition.

Unilever gained as it announced its plans to appeal an adverse ruling by the Brazilian Supreme Court. The household goods giant had advised in its third-quarter trading statement that within its estimated total contingent liabilities there was a risk adjusted amount in respect of a claim for €565m for indirect taxes in Brazil that had been determined in Unilever's favour in a prior judicial review but would be heard in a higher court in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile insurer Direct Line gave back gains after it was upgraded by Morgan Stanley to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and lifted the price target to 465p from 414p on Thursday.

The bank said the company’s shift towards more own brands business and away from partnership business should lead to higher return on equity, greater customer retention and higher-quality earnings.

Risers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,324.00p 2.71%
Sky (SKY) 773.50p 2.11%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,180.00p 1.92%
National Grid (NG.) 925.30p 1.69%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 735.00p 1.52%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,546.00p 1.51%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,432.50p 1.38%
Diageo (DGE) 2,023.00p 1.35%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,837.00p 1.20%
Royal Mail (RMG) 459.20p 1.10%

Fallers

Standard Life (SL.) 347.70p -1.67%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 58.83p -1.42%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,239.00p -1.20%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 201.30p -0.94%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 355.10p -0.89%
Glencore (GLEN) 286.05p -0.88%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,715.00p -0.81%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,974.00p -0.80%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,160.00p -0.78%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 469.70p -0.78%