London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 6,503.03 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Miners Glencore and Anglo American were both higher. Shares of the latter were initiated at ‘buy’ by Berenberg.
British Land was boosted by an upgrade to ‘outperform’ at Exane, while Premier Inn owner Whitbread rallied, after announcing earlier in the week that it had refinanced its debt.
Burberry was on the rise after Goldman Sachs upgraded its stance on the luxury brand to ‘neutral’ from ‘sell’ and lifted the price target to 1,690p from 1,595p as it said the risk/reward is now more balanced.
The bank noted that since being added to its sell list in June last year, the share are down 1.6% in absolute terms, compared with the broader European market up 7.3% and the luxury sector up 16%.
Housebuilder Barratt Developments was higher after Liberum lifted the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ as it increased its 2021 earnings per share forecast by 8% after the company’s first-half profit before tax beat consensus by 7%.
Speciality chemicals group Johnson Matthey was weaker after Barclays cut the shares to ‘underweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and reduced the price target to 2,570p from 2,640p.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Glencore (GLEN) 258.40p 4.45%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,236.00p 3.72%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,491.50p 3.13%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,348.80p 3.02%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,283.60p 3.02%
British Land Company (BLND) 455.60p 2.91%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,765.00p 2.71%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 706.80p 2.52%
Evraz (EVR) 506.20p 2.49%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.92p 2.23%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,899.00p -3.66%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 886.00p -2.96%
Pennon Group (PNN) 912.40p -2.48%
Pearson (PSON) 719.00p -2.44%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 3,842.00p -2.34%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,272.00p -2.24%
National Grid (NG.) 852.80p -2.22%
Aviva (AV.) 342.30p -2.14%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 132.96p -2.11%
DCC (DCC) 5,768.00p -1.67%
