London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 7,584.42 in quiet afternoon trade on Monday.
GKN owner Melrose and BA and Iberia owner IAG were among the top performers on the index. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the planned lifting of Covid restrictions in China appears to have helped boost the fortunes of IAG.
“It’s highly reliant on a bounce back in long haul travel, and a dip in cases in China could herald a fresh wave of bookings internationally, particularly for the more lucrative business seats,” she said.
“Rolls Royce was lifted higher on the tailwind of relief, given that it’s highly reliant on the number of flying hours airlines complete for its core business of manufacturing and maintaining commercial jet engines.”
JD Sports was also a high riser, having tumbled last week after it took markets by surprise by announcing the departure of chair Peter Cowgill.
Sales, marketing and support services DCC was weaker after a downgrade to ‘sector perform’ from ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital Markets, which slashed its price target to 5,800p from 7,500p.
“We are big fans of the company and management, and believe there is scope for a re-rating over time if it can skew the business away from traditional energy,” RBC said. “However, we believe the exposure to a squeezed consumer warrants some forecast caution in the current environment.”
FTSE 100 – Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 135.15p 4.77%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 937.20p 3.97%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 135.44p 3.80%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 124.05p 3.42%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 89.61p 3.11%
RS Group (RS1) 960.00p 2.95%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 817.00p 2.79%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,507.00p 2.52%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 589.80p 2.25%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,209.00p 2.16%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 149.00p -6.82%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,451.50p -2.79%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 373.80p -2.17%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,414.00p -1.57%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,771.00p -1.45%
Kingfisher (KGF) 262.30p -1.28%
Aviva (AV.) 435.80p -1.16%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,556.00p -1.07%
Shell (SHEL) 2,359.50p -0.86%
GSK (GSK) 1,721.80p -0.66%
