FTSE 100 movers: Rentokil bounces back, Rio Tinto takes a hit
London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.3% to 7,082.13 in afternoon trade on Friday, as investors worried that US President Trump may have sparked a trade war and digested a Brexit speech by UK PM Theresa May.
Rentokil was the standout gainer after falling sharply in the previous session on the back of its full-year results.
South African packaging and paper group, Mondi, was on the front foot after saying it will pay out a bumper special dividend on top of its healthy payout for last year as it reported growth of 7% in revenues and 6% in underlying operating profits.
Luxury fashion house Burberry rose for the second day in a row after announcing on Thursday that Riccardo Tisci, who worked at Givenchy for more than a decade, was its new chief creative officer.
On the downside, Rio Tinto retreated as Australia’s corporate watchdog said it has launched court action against the miner and two former executives for misleading investors about the coal reserves it reported in a $4bn acquisition in Mozambique.
London Stock Exchange was in the red despite saying that full year operating profits rose 47% to £626m, as earnings before interest and tax missed expectations.
Takeaway food delivery marketplace Just Eat fell as it announced that its board has appointed Mike Evans to the role of non-executive chairman, with effect from 26 April.
Johnson Matthey dropped as it announced the appointment of Jason Apter as its sector chief executive of health, confirming he would join the company on 5 March and be based in the US.
Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 275.60p 4.75%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,910.00p 3.80%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,932.00p 2.88%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,634.50p 2.67%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,634.00p 1.90%
Centrica (CNA) 143.25p 1.31%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,808.00p 1.12%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 534.80p 1.10%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 186.50p 0.89%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,199.00p 0.80%
Fallers
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,680.50p -2.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,698.80p -2.46%
Barclays (BARC) 206.25p -2.37%
Old Mutual (OML) 249.00p -2.28%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 3,855.76p -2.19%
Just Eat (JE.) 848.20p -2.12%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,024.00p -2.10%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,427.60p -2.07%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 611.00p -2.02%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,490.00p -1.99%