LONDON: Britain’s top share index began the week on a deflated note on Monday, with a Barclays-led drop in financials outweighing a buoyant commodities sector.
The blue chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent at 7,547.82 points by 0953 GMT, having closed at its highest level on record in the previous session.
A quiet day for earnings allowed investors to reflect on some of the updates issued so far in the third-quarter results season.
Barclays fell 0.8 percent after broker Deutsche Bank cuts its target price on the stock, saying that Barclays’ results were disappointing.
“Though the IB (investment banking) revenue environment remains challenging, we think the market is being overly bearish on the outlook,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note, retaining their “buy” rating on the stock.
However a rise in mining stocks cushioned broader losses.
Shares in BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto all rose between 1.4 percent to 1.9 percent, buoyed by strong gains for copper and oil prices.
“I would put most of this move amongst the miners today (down) to partly the dollar, and also a bit of a correction upwards after a few weeks of trading lower,” Ken Odeluga, market analyst at City Index, said.
Health stocks were also among top gainers as ConvaTec jumped 7.2 percent on the back of a UBS upgrade to “buy”, with UBS analysts saying that the stock was pricing in an “overly bearish scenario”.
NMC Health also rose 1.6 percent.
British mid cap stocks were lower, with pharma firm BTG the biggest faller.
Shares in the health stock fell nearly 5 percent after a US court confirmed that BTG needs to pay damages of $55.8 million to Wellstat in a dispute over the distribution of a drug.
Mitie Group was the biggest mid cap gainer, however, jumping 4.3 percent and on track for its biggest one-day gain in more than three months after a double upgrade from broker Jefferies.
“The September profit warning provided a welcome reminder that Mitie’s path to rehabilitation will not be smooth,” analysts at Jefferies said in a note.
“The shares trade close to 15-year relative lows and selling Property Management would help to de-risk the balance sheet,” the Jefferies analysts added.
Source: Brecorder.com
