FTSE 100 movers: RBS and Tesco lead strong rally

The FTSE 100 shrugged off an early dip to put on a strong gain over Tuesday's session as Brexit odds lengthened, oil prices strengthened and a banking sector tracking expectations of a US rate rise higher.

With an hour to go before the close, the blue chip index was up 1.1% at 6,205.26, led by a host of financial sector stocks.

Top of this group was Royal Bank of Scotland, followed by St James's Place, Old Mutual, Legal & General, Aviva and Prudential which traders attributed to the strong indications from a newspaper poll that voting at next month's European Union referendum will be in favour of the Remain campaign and a firm defence of his anti-Brexit stance from Bank of England governor Mark Carney in Parliament.

The Telegraph’s ORB poll revealed a 55% majority want to stay in the EU and 42% who will vote to leave on the 23 June. After a later ICM online poll showed remain at 45% and leave at 45%, the EU 'poll of polls' had the Remain campaign's lead up to 56% versus 44%, the largest since current polling started in September.

The Remain led lifted housebuilders such as Persimmon, Berkeley Group and Travis Perkins, which have been depressed by the concerns around the vote, though banks were given an extra boost by a reported rise in mortgage activity at building society Nationwide.

Shares in Old Mutual also received a fillip as the group confirmed reports that it has received approaches to acquire its 66% stake in OM Asset Management (OMAM). The Anglo-South African company said that it was continuing to assess options with regard to the preferred route to carry out the managed separation announced in March.

“As a consequence of the decision to proceed with the managed separation of Old Mutual, we expect to receive interest in our assets periodically,” said Old Mutual, adding that it would update the market as and when appropriate.

However, topping the pile was Tesco as investors flocked to buy the grocer's shares, many inspired by the reiteration of an 'outperform' rating from Bernstein and 220p price target.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said he sees positive signals after sifting through the supermarket group's annual report.

He said the annual report enabled a look at what has been achieved over the last 12 months and commented that management has far exceeded any expectations from a year ago.

Looking at management's incentives, they are pinned to ambitious targets, which provided Monteyne encouragement, saying that either Tesco is either far more confident on UK margin than the market consensus or Tesco has some other cash up its sleeves.

Another high flyer was Kingfisher, with the DIY retailer assembling a solid start to the year. Like-for-like sales growth in B&Q and Screwfix stores in the UK and Ireland of 6.2% contributed the main part to 3.6% group growth to £2.7bn.

While LFL sales in France continued to show evidence of slow recovery, up 0.2% at constant currencies, Poland was also solid at 10.8% and made up for declines in the smaller Russian and Spanish businesses.

There was also good progress in chief executive Véronique Laury's ambitious five-year strategic repair job, including the installation of a new store IT system across the estate, while a June launch is looming for a new 'offer and supply chain organisation'.

"We have made a solid start to the year, trading in line with expectations," said Laury.

The fallers were led by Coca Cola HBC, with analysts citing sugar shortage halts production in Venezuela as a downer. Moreover, stakeholder New Argen sold a stake of 5.37m shares.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Tesco (TSCO) 170.85p 6.71%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 245.70p 4.96%
St James's Place (STJ) 945.00p 4.88%
Old Mutual (OML) 174.70p 4.42%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 234.50p 4.22%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,961.00p 3.98%
Kingfisher (KGF) 372.50p 3.33%
Aviva (AV.) 447.00p 3.26%
Prudential (PRU) 1,365.00p 3.14%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,147.00p 3.02%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,322.00p -3.15%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,980.00p -1.64%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,063.00p -1.30%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 963.00p -1.08%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,661.00p -0.36%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 417.00p -0.36%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 960.50p -0.26%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,940.00p -0.21%
Centrica (CNA) 202.60p -0.20%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,656.00p -0.18%