London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,337.58 in afternoon trade on Friday.
GSK was in the red after it said the second-line application of one of its cancer treatments will be limited following a request by US regulators. The shares were also dented by a downgrade to ‘sell’ at UBS.
On the upside, online supermarket Ocado was the standout gainer on the index.
Asia-focused Prudential was among the top risers on news that China has decided to scrap Covid flight restrictions and cut the quarantine requirements for inbound travellers to eight days from 10 days.
Miners were also boosted by the news, with Anglo American, Antofagasta, and Rio Tinto all higher.
B&M European Value Retail gained after Deutsche Bank lifted its price target on the stock to 415p from 395p following the discount retailer’s half-year report on Thursday.
“B&M management cameo out fighting with regards to the acceleration in LFL trading, robust cost management continuing and the recovery in gross margin in 2H,” it said.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 771.40p 8.16%
Prudential (PRU) 1,004.00p 8.00%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,352.00p 7.02%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 379.80p 6.33%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,434.00p 6.10%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,441.00p 5.69%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 937.40p 5.16%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,290.50p 4.88%
Kingfisher (KGF) 247.10p 4.31%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 383.20p 4.10%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
BAE Systems (BA.) 723.00p -6.95%
Relx plc (REL) 2,215.00p -6.82%
GSK (GSK) 1,325.40p -5.88%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,791.00p -4.63%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,001.00p -4.40%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,914.00p -4.21%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,190.00p -3.81%
Experian (EXPN) 2,852.00p -3.58%
Diageo (DGE) 3,614.00p -2.91%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,838.00p -2.87%
