FTSE 100 movers: EasyJet crashes on warning; Randgold and Fresnillo shine
London’s FTSE 100 was down 2.1% to 6,011.36 in afternoon trading as the impact of Brexit continued to weigh on investors’ minds.
EasyJet suffered the heaviest losses after the budget airline warned that Britain’s vote to the leave the European Union will dent sales in the second half of the year and reduce third-quarter pre-tax profit by around £28m.
Following the Brexit vote, EasyJet predicted "additional economic and consumer uncertainty is likely this summer and as a consequence it is expected that revenue per seat at constant currency in the second half will now be down by at least a mid-single digit percentage" compared to the second half of 2015.
Housebuilders and banks were under the cosh again amid fears about the impact of Britain leaving the European Union.
Banks also suffered from a slew of rating downgrades on Monday.
Still, Deutsche Bank said in a research note that the downside in housebuilders’ share prices from the Brexit vote is a value opportunity to buy into the sector.
“Given the significant declines in share prices on the day after the Brexit vote we believe the housebuilder stocks are more than reflecting the likely downside scenario in the sector,” it said.
“For us we believe it will be the dividend yield which will be a significant factor in the sector, with dividends covered by net cash and funded by profits and cash flows we believe dividend yields of up to 9.9% for the coming 12 months will prove difficult to ignore.”
It wasn't all doom and gloom, however. Precious metals miners Randgold Resources and Fresnillo were the standout gainers again as the yellow metal rallied on its safe-haven appeal.
The stocks also benefited from upgrades by Goldman Sachs. The bank lifted Randgold to 'buy' from 'neutral' and Fesnillo to 'neutral' from sell'. It said gold equities were the preferred play.
Defensive stocks such as pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Shire, drinks maker Diageo and British American Tobacco also posted healthy gains.
Risers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 8,000.00p 8.55%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,498.00p 8.08%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,173.00p 3.51%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,936.00p 2.79%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,920.50p 2.59%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,200.00p 2.29%
Diageo (DGE) 1,914.00p 1.92%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,460.50p 1.72%
National Grid (NG.) 999.90p 1.57%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 1,000.00p 1.42%
Fallers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,004.00p -23.53%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 348.40p -20.78%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 163.30p -20.46%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 112.90p -17.05%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,262.00p -16.97%
Barclays (BARC) 128.85p -16.28%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,367.00p -15.62%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,231.00p -13.96%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 355.90p -12.98%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 164.40p -12.79%