London’s FTSE 100 was down 2% at 7,007.21 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Housebuilder Persimmon fell despite saying it was accelerating a capital return to shareholders as strong first-half trading generated revenue of £1.84bn.
Miners Anglo American and Glencore were under the cosh amid broader worries about economic growth. Susannah Street, market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the sector was being hit by concerns that a slowing economic recovery will lead to lower demand for metals and minerals.
Specialty chemicals company Croda was one of a handful of stocks in the black after HSBC upgraded the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and hiked the price target 8,600p from 6,100p. It argued that group’s strong near-term trading environment should continue to support its recent re-rating.
The bank said it had detected a transformation that could accelerate long-term growth at the company.
“We detect that Croda is changing. The major vaccine success is a clear and growing boost to Life Sciences, while the successful integration of fragrances, a strategic review of Performance Technologies and recovery in consumer markets – combined with its ESG credentials defined by ongoing sustainability – suggest an accelerating internal momentum,” it said.
FTSE 100 – Risers
BAE Systems (BA.) 531.60p 0.49%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,630.00p 0.45%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,584.00p 0.23%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 285.60p 0.07%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,659.00p 0.01%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,593.50p -0.06%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 517.00p -0.27%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,150.50p -0.30%
Experian (EXPN) 2,927.00p -0.54%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,627.00p -0.64%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Persimmon (PSN) 2,902.00p -5.47%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,070.00p -5.05%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,972.00p -4.83%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,044.00p -4.82%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 934.80p -4.57%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,854.50p -4.56%
Glencore (GLEN) 303.90p -4.48%
Prudential (PRU) 1,333.00p -4.31%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,487.50p -4.25%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,825.00p -4.11%
