FTSE 100 movers: Fresnillo shines as gold rallies; Carnival sinks on guidance downgrade
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 7,448.60 in afternoon trade on Thursday, as investors digested policy announcements from the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve.
Precious metals miner Fresnillo shone as gold prices rallied to a more than five-year high after the Federal Reserve struck a dovish tone in its policy announcement on Wednesday.
Halma was boosted by an upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell' at UBS, which cited improving end-market signals and M&A growth.
On the downside, Carnival shares sank after the cruise operator downgraded its annual earnings per share guidance as it pointed to the US government's ban on cruises to Cuba.
The company downgraded its guidance for 2019 adjusted earnings per share to between $4.25 and $4.35 from between $4.35 and $4.55. Carnival attributed the lower earnings guidance in part to the US government's policy change on travel to Cuba, which it said has had a financial impact of $0.04 to $0.06 per share.
Evraz was under the cosh after the steel maker's chair and chief executive sold a 1.7% stake in the company.
Centrica retreated on news that the British Gas owner will cut a further 700 jobs this summer, as it battles a raft of ‘growing challenges’. The latest round of jobs cuts is understood to be in management and back office functions.
A Centrica spokesman told The Guardian and Sky News: "This difficult decision was made because we need to respond to the growing challenges we face. The energy market is going though continued rapid change, competition is fierce, our energy customers are leaving us and we’re operating under a price cap."
United Utilities was in the red as its stock went ex-dividend.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 869.60p 5.64%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,982.60p 3.04%
easyJet (EZJ) 893.80p 3.00%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,093.50p 2.92%
Halma (HLMA) 2,039.00p 2.82%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 179.55p 2.81%
CRH (CRH) 2,582.00p 2.66%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,208.00p 2.62%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,155.02p 2.57%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 539.90p 2.55%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Carnival (CCL) 3,590.00p -10.98%
Evraz (EVR) 647.00p -4.26%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 789.00p -3.78%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,499.80p -2.71%
Centrica (CNA) 88.38p -2.69%
BAE Systems (BA.) 479.70p -2.44%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,358.00p -2.21%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 193.00p -1.58%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 219.10p -1.53%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 58.40p -1.35%