FTSE 100 movers: SAB surges on AB InBev agreement; Royal Mail slumps

London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.1% by mid afternoon at 6,304.21 as uninspiring Chinese trade figures and UK inflation data weighed on investors’ minds.

London-listed brewer SABMiller surged after it agreed in principle to a possible £44 per share takeover offer from Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The board of SABMiller has indicated to AB InBev it would be prepared to recommend the all-cash offer to shareholders. There is also a partial share offer for approximately 41% of the SABMiller shares of 0.48 unlisted shares and £3.7788 per SABMiller share.

Housebuilders racked up healthy gains, rising in line with FTSE 250 peer Bellway, which rallied nearly 5% after posting a 44% jump in full-year profits that beat expectations. Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey were both firmly in the black.

Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline was also on the front foot after JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’ and lifted the price target to 1,370p from 1,320p. The bank noted that medium-term consensus earnings per share estimates have fallen 15-18% year-to-date and expectations now look achievable, with downgrades no longer a concern.

In addition, it said a pipeline review suggests the company’s upcoming research and development day has a positive risk/reward.

On the downside, Royal Mail was a standout loser after business secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that the government has sold its remaining stake in the company. Nearly all of its 14% stake was sold to institutional investors for 455p per share, bringing in £591.1m. It takes the total proceeds raised from sales of all the government’s shares to £3.3bn. Proceeds of the sale will go towards paying off the national debt.

Barclays was also under pressure following press reports the bank is set to name US investment banker Jes Staley as its new chief, pending the regulator's blessing. Staley was first approached in 2012, but on that ocassion the lender balked at the cost of buying out his contract at JP Morgan, where he had spent more than three decades.

Luxury fashion retailer Burberry was under the cosh amid renewed worries about China – to which it is heavily exposed – following disappointing trade figures.

Risers

SABMiller (SAB) 3,955.50p +9.22%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,966.00p +1.55%

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 635.00p +1.44%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 193.20p +1.31%

easyJet (EZJ) 1,727.00p +1.29%

Inmarsat (ISAT) 927.50p +1.26%

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,321.50p +1.19%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,247.00p +1.15%

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,286.00p +1.02%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 575.00p +0.88%

Fallers

Royal Mail (RMG) 447.80p -5.17%

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,491.00p -3.97%

Tesco (TSCO) 194.25p -3.77%

Glencore (GLEN) 116.75p -3.63%

Barclays (BARC) 248.10p -3.29%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 737.90p -3.25%

Standard Life (SL.) 409.70p -2.96%

Old Mutual (OML) 204.70p -2.89%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,435.00p -2.71%

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 517.60p -2.63%