London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.3% at 7,412.63 in afternoon trade on Monday.
Online supermarket Ocado was the standout performer on the index.
Informa was also a high riser as the events organiser lifted its full-year guidance, pointing to an improvement in demand.
The company now expects full-year revenue of between £2.3bn and £2.35bn and adjusted operating profit of £490m to £505m. Previously, it had guided to revenues of £2.15bn to £2.25bn and adjusted operating profit of between £470m and £490m.
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group slid following a report the company is close to agreeing a deal to buy Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes.
Elsewhere, Harbour Energy was under the cosh. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson pointed to reports that we could see a higher windfall tax brought in later this week in the budget statement.
“This would see the tax increased from 25% to 35%, as well as extending the tax from 2026 to 2028,” he said.
“If implemented this would increase the effective tax rate for UK profits from 65% to 75%, which the likes of BP and Shell would probably be able to absorb better due to their global footprint, but would be increasingly problematic for the likes of Harbour Energy and EnQuest, who make the bulk of their profits from domestic sources.”
Housebuilders Persimmon and Barratt were also weaker after the latest survey from Rightmove showed that house prices dipped last month as sellers rushed to secure deals against a backdrop of mounting financial uncertainty.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 872.60p 7.46%
Informa (INF) 590.00p 6.77%
BT Group (BT.A) 124.55p 3.96%
GSK (GSK) 1,374.60p 3.85%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,120.00p 3.62%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 398.90p 3.48%
BAE Systems (BA.) 738.20p 3.39%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 92.32p 3.37%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,289.00p 3.20%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,057.00p 3.19%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Harbour Energy (HBR) 344.10p -9.23%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 772.00p -2.65%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,263.00p -2.06%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,331.50p -2.02%
Unite Group (UTG) 954.50p -1.80%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 11,485.00p -1.59%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,100.00p -1.46%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 405.40p -1.41%
RS Group (RS1) 951.00p -1.25%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 623.40p -1.11%
