ShareCast News

Having promised on Thursday that it would raise money from disposals, insurance giant Aviva moved quickly to act on that pledge by saying it will sell more of its stake in Delta Lloyd than originally intended, prompting a sharp rise in its share price. Also providing a lift was Societe Generale which upgraded the stock from 'sell' to 'hold'.

Food, ingredients and retail firm Associated British Foods also rose after saying that it is to buy ethnic flour brand Elephant Atta from Premier Foods for £34m. Analysts at Panmure Gordon said this morning that the acquisition is a "perfect fit" for AB Foods.

Meanwhile, miners were firmly out of favour today despite the Chinese rate cut as worries about a steep slowdown in the world's second-largest economy weighed on sentiment. Polymetal, Evraz, Kazakhmys, Glencore and Rio Tinto were all registering losses.

Plumbing and heating group Wolseley was being pressured lower after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to 'equal weight'. Meanwhile, Barclays was lower after after Bernstein cut its rating to 'market perform'.



FTSE 100 - Risers

Aviva (AV.) 293.10p +2.99%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 158.20p +1.61%

G4S (GFS) 290.50p +1.40%

Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,570.00p +1.22%

BT Group (BT.A) 215.60p +1.17%

SSE (SSE) 1,410.00p +1.15%

Shire Plc (SHP) 1,822.00p +1.11%

Pennon Group (PNN) 767.00p +1.05%

Severn Trent (SVT) 1,684.00p +1.02%

Centrica (CNA) 318.40p +0.95%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

CRH (CRH) 1,177.00p -3.05%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 319.40p -2.98%

ICAP (IAP) 316.50p -2.88%

Polymetal International (POLY) 868.50p -2.85%

Evraz (EVR) 251.10p -2.60%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,307.00p -2.39%

Kazakhmys (KAZ) 742.00p -2.11%

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,582.00p -2.04%

Kingfisher (KGF) 270.20p -1.96%

Wolseley (WOS) 2,372.00p -1.82%

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