FTSE 100 movers: Utilities in favour; Miners lose their shine
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,842.30 -1.55%
UK equities were a sea of red on Tuesday with just six stocks on the FTSE 100 in positive territory, as a barrage of mixed economic data and rising concerns about conflict in the Middle East hammering market sentiment.
Financials, industrials and mining stocks dominated the fallers lists, while shares in the utilities and healthcare sectors held up well, as investors shook off 'riskier' investments in search of safe havens.
Meanwhile, markets were reacting yet more strong economic data from the US on Monday, with retail sales rising more than expected in March, prompting some to push back their projections for interest-rate cuts even further in light of a resilient economy. Wall Street stocks fell on Monday with 10-year US Treasury yields rising back to levels not seen since November 2023 at around the 4.65% mark.
"Sentiment is shaky at best right now with heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East coming alongside increased concerns that the Federal Reserve may opt to maintain interest rates at the current levels for some time yet," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Reduced risk appetite was benefitting the utilities and healthcare sectors, with Centrica, Severn Trent, SSE and United Utilities among the handful of stocks on the rise, along with Smith & Nephew and Croda International.
Heading the other way were financial and mining stocks, such as Pershing Square Holdings, Phoenix Group, Prudential, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto.
DS Smith slipped 2% after announcing that US rival International Paper has agreed to buy the company in a £7.8bn all-share deal. The deal dwarfs an earlier offer from UK peer Mondi, which had agreed an all-share takeover worth around £6.2bn in March, shortly before International Paper launched its own approach.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 - Risers
Croda International (CRDA) 4,887.00p 2.47%
Centrica (CNA) 132.30p 1.38%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,402.00p 0.92%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,011.00p 0.45%
SSE (SSE) 1,650.00p 0.00%
RELX FINANCE BV 3.375% GTD NTS 20/03/33 (BW73) 99.72p 0.00%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 957.60p -0.10%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 14,950.00p -0.23%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 104.60p -0.29%
Diageo (DGE) 2,759.50p -0.38%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,836.00p -4.20%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 349.90p -3.85%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 489.40p -3.76%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 833.80p -3.74%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,089.00p -3.69%
IMI (IMI) 1,734.00p -3.67%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 670.80p -3.23%
Glencore (GLEN) 466.55p -3.14%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,241.00p -3.12%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,206.00p -3.03%