FTSE 100 movers: Retailers gain; National Grid tumbles again

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 8,324.81in afternoon trade on Friday.

Retailers were on the front foot, with Ocado, Kingfisher and M&S all up even as ONS data showed that retail sales fell by 2.3% in April, following a 0.2% decline in March. Analysts had been expecting a 0.4% decline.

The ONS attributed the slide to the poor weather, as heavy, persistent rain kept shoppers at home. It said volumes had fallen across most sectors, with clothing, sports equipment, games and toys and furniture stores doing badly.

Mondi was among the gainers after Citi upgraded its stance on the shares to ‘buy’.

It said that after a difficult couple of years, the market headwinds of destocking and lower pricing are reversing across the packaging company’s product segments (board, flexibles, paper).

"We see ‘normalised’ EBITDA of around €1.8bn in 2-3 years - achieving this at 8x EV/EBITDA (the multiple before the Russia-Ukraine conflict) would put the stock at circa £25/share in 3 years," Citi said.

National Grid tumbled again, having fallen sharply on Thursday after saying it was planning a £7bn equity raise through a rights issue. United Utilities and Severn Trent also lost ground.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 362.60p 2.98%
Kingfisher (KGF) 263.00p 1.66%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 296.90p 1.47%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 120.90p 1.34%
3i Group (III) 2,954.00p 0.92%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,485.00p 0.92%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,588.00p 0.83%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 149.00p 0.81%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,631.00p 0.81%
Tesco (TSCO) 314.70p 0.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

National Grid (NG.) 900.60p -10.39%
Fresnillo (FRES) 591.00p -3.04%
RS Group (RS1) 739.00p -2.76%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 54.52p -2.26%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,005.00p -1.86%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,457.00p -1.84%
St James's Place (STJ) 479.40p -1.76%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 370.00p -1.70%
Entain (ENT) 705.00p -1.56%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 886.80p -1.47%