London midday: Stocks maintain gains; Rolls-Royce surges on Boeing news

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still in the black by midday on Friday following heavy losses in the previous session on concerns about tightening Covid-19 restrictions.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 5,903.55, having fallen sharply a day earlier as countries across Europe implemented further restrictions and London was moved to Tier 2. Meanwhile, sterling was up 0.4% against the dollar at 1.2956, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson due to make an announcement later in the day on whether the UK will walk away from Brexit negotiations with the EU.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The sticking points continue to be around fishing rights, level playing field provisions, as well as arbitration and governance benchmarks. With French President Macron also rattling a 'no deal' sabre it seems likely that we could well see some further twists and turns yet."

In equity markets, engine maker Rolls-Royce was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after Europe's aviation regulator said the Boeing 737 Max is safe enough to return to the skies before the end of the year.

Luxury brand Burberry rallied following well-received third-quarter results from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Just Eat was higher after an upgrade to 'buy' at HSBC, while Premier Inn owner Whitbread was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Berenberg. Dixons Carphone and JD Sports were both lifted by upgrades at RBC Capital Markets.

Hedge fund Man Group gained after it reported a 4% rise in third-quarter funds under management partly thanks to "robust" net inflows, although it also struck a note of caution about the outlook.

Outsourcer Serco surged after upgrading its 2020 guidance thanks to strong revenue growth in the third quarter and good cost control.

On the downside, IAG was in the red after the Information Commissioner's Office fined British Airways £20m for a data breach affecting more than 400,000 customers.

Pub chain Wetherspoons slumped after it swung to an annual loss as it felt the full impact of the coronavirus lockdown and said the government's latest set of curbs had led to a 15% fall in like-for-like sales in the first 11 weeks of the current fiscal year.

The company reported a pre-tax loss of £34m compared with £102m profit a year ago. Revenue fell by a third to £1.26bn and the final dividend was scrapped.



Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,903.55 1.22%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,915.49 0.43%
techMARK (TASX) 3,829.64 1.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 216.00p 10.71%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 805.60p 3.63%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,540.00p 3.53%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,251.00p 3.35%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 9,896.00p 3.10%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 3,006.00p 2.87%
Experian (EXPN) 3,054.00p 2.83%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,469.00p 2.75%
Relx plc (REL) 1,695.00p 2.63%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 13,420.00p 2.56%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 94.04p -1.80%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 116.95p -1.35%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 533.90p -1.22%
BT Group (BT.A) 101.05p -1.13%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 108.32p -0.53%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,167.00p -0.43%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 26.49p -0.38%
Barclays (BARC) 99.87p -0.25%
Aviva (AV.) 279.10p 0.07%
SEGRO (SGRO) 933.00p 0.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Serco Group (SRP) 139.10p 17.48%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 255.70p 5.92%
Man Group (EMG) 123.80p 5.59%
FirstGroup (FGP) 49.06p 4.61%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 105.60p 4.45%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 351.00p 3.24%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 9,896.00p 3.10%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 414.00p 2.99%
Softcat (SCT) 1,256.00p 2.95%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 50.25p 2.93%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 845.00p -11.98%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 23.50p -5.51%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 481.20p -3.49%
WH Smith (SMWH) 950.50p -3.31%
Derwent London (DLN) 2,686.00p -3.10%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 302.80p -3.07%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 85.46p -2.49%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 325.00p -2.40%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 848.00p -2.30%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 114.20p -2.23%