London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 7,606.40 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with trade quiet ahead of the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday.
Broadcaster ITV was the standout gainer on the index, closely followed by engine maker Rolls-Royce and defence company BAE Systems.
BT Group was in the red after the Competition and Markets Authority said it was launching an investigation into the planned sports broadcasting joint venture between it and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Vodafone was weaker as JPMorgan said its near-term growth outlook was underwhelming.
“Following several years of ongoing European service revenue decline, Mar-22 saw Vodafone finally creep back into positive growth territory,” JPM said. “Unhelpfully the analysis within this report suggests near-term headwinds in Germany are likely to more than offset improvements elsewhere, leaving the growth outlook screening both underwhelming and barely positive (Mar-23E +0.3%).”
Unilever was also on the back foot, having surged a day earlier after the consumer goods giant added billionaire investor Nelson Peltz – the founder and chief executive of Trian Fund Management – to its board as a non-executive director. Trian owns a 1.5% stake in the company.
FTSE 100 – Risers
ITV (ITV) 72.68p 3.41%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 89.06p 2.73%
BAE Systems (BA.) 776.40p 2.70%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,571.50p 1.98%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 45.77p 1.95%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,256.00p 1.92%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,504.50p 1.83%
WPP (WPP) 937.40p 1.82%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,806.50p 1.63%
BT Group (BT.A) 190.05p 1.50%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
National Grid (NG.) 1,128.00p -3.67%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,205.00p -3.20%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 9,484.00p -2.83%
St James’s Place (STJ) 1,258.00p -2.78%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 127.28p -2.53%
Experian (EXPN) 2,600.00p -2.11%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,248.00p -2.08%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,855.00p -2.06%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,545.50p -1.87%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,756.50p -1.79%
