FTSE 100 movers: Fresnillo shines on higher gold prices; Flutter falls
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,256.51 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Fresnillo shot to the top of the leaderboard as gold prices reached new record highs of over $2,500 per ounce.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The glittering performance has been buoyed by sustained high levels of purchases by central banks in the face of a weakening dollar, geopolitical uncertainty and the downward looking trajectory for interest rates.
"These conditions could persist for a while so there’s potential for the high-water mark to rise further in the coming months."
On the downside, AstraZeneca was under the cosh after a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank.
Flutter Entertainment fell as the Paddy Power owner announced the acquisition of a 56% stake in NSX Group, a Brazilian operator of the Betnacional brand, for around $350m.
Flutter said the deal fully aligns with its strategy to invest in leadership positions in international markets, "securing a podium position for Flutter on completion in the regulating and fast-growing Brazilian market".
NSX is the number four operator in Brazil, with a portfolio of brands which include the flagship Betnacional brand. On a standalone basis, it is expected to generate revenue of about $256m and adjusted EBITDA of $34m in 2024.
GSK lost ground despite announcing that China's health authority has granted its Blenrep blood cancer treatment a so-called 'Breakthrough Therapy Designation' (BTD), which is designed to speed up development of investigational drugs.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES)565.00p5.12%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG)2,294.00p2.05%
Airtel Africa (AAF)118.00p1.99%
Entain (ENT)728.00p1.93%
Burberry Group (BRBY)595.60p1.92%
Schroders (SDR)339.20p1.80%
Intertek Group (ITRK)5,050.00p1.77%
BT Group (BT.A)147.80p1.76%
Convatec Group (CTEC)233.40p1.48%
M&G (MNG)206.80p1.42%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN)11,806.00p-2.02%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY)290.60p-1.76%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR)16,575.00p-1.57%
Compass Group (CPG)2,427.00p-1.02%
Rightmove (RMV)660.80p-0.99%
Sage Group (SGE)1,029.00p-0.87%
Vistry Group (VTY)1,363.00p-0.66%
GSK (GSK)1,631.00p-0.46%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS)350.20p-0.45%
easyJet (EZJ)489.40p-0.35%