FTSE 100 movers: Prudential jumps on results; banks drop

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,349.19 in afternoon trade, reversing earlier mild gains after the UK parliament approved the government's plan to kick off the process of leaving the European Union and ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve rate announcement.

Insurance and savings group Prudential was the standout gainer after its full-year results beat City forecasts for operating profits and its dividend.

IFRS operating profit for the year grew 7% to £4.26bn, beating the consensus forecast of £4.1bn, though at constant exchange rates profits would have fallen 2%.

Retailer Marks & Spencer was under the cosh on news it has closed almost all of its stores in mainland China since the start of the year.

The company has shut seven of its stores in Shanghai and Beijing, with another three in Shanghai set to close next month.

Banks were under the cosh, with RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and Standard Chartered all weaker. Traders pointed to concerns about a hard Brexit and the possibility of another Scottish independence referendum.

Risers

Prudential (PRU) 1,704.50p 2.40%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,040.50p 1.28%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,368.00p 1.24%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 989.50p 1.18%
easyJet (EZJ) 995.50p 1.12%
Capita (CPI) 574.00p 1.06%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,860.50p 0.94%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,030.00p 0.93%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,449.00p 0.91%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,321.00p 0.87%

Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 232.20p -3.77%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.60p -2.83%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 328.40p -2.78%
Pearson (PSON) 659.00p -1.93%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 190.70p -1.75%
Standard Life (SL.) 365.10p -1.72%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,086.00p -1.51%
Barclays (BARC) 226.85p -1.46%
Next (NXT) 3,914.00p -1.41%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 732.80p -1.36%