London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 7,510.85 in afternoon trade on Monday.
AstraZeneca was the standout gainer on the index after it said data from a late-stage trial had shown that its Enhertu drug helped patients with a type of breast cancer to live longer.
NatWest was also on the front foot as Berenberg, which rates the stock at ‘buy’, said the bank’s earnings outlook is bright. “While the bank’s cost guidance is, in isolation, somewhat disappointing, we believe this will be more than offset by improvements in NatWest’s revenue guidance,” it said
“Updated guidance on the benefit to NatWest from rising interest rates also increases our conviction that consensus expectations of the bank’s revenue growth are too low (our underlying FY 2023E revenues are 4% above consensus).”
Berenberg added that NatWest is “undervalued”.
On the downside, Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal and Russian steelmaker Evraz were weaker after Moscow said there were no firm plans in place for a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Joe Biden.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said the shares were down “on the basis they could well be on the frontlines of any sanctions imposed in the event of a Russian invasion”.
FTSE 100 – Risers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,092.00p 3.31%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 595.20p 1.99%
Sage Group (SGE) 679.20p 1.59%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,700.00p 1.50%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,362.00p 1.42%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 155.40p 0.97%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,288.50p 0.86%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 236.30p 0.77%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,553.00p 0.77%
Pearson (PSON) 625.20p 0.68%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,062.00p -9.19%
Evraz (EVR) 266.20p -6.00%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,284.00p -5.81%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,595.00p -3.83%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 979.40p -3.51%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 160.50p -3.14%
BT Group (BT.A) 191.80p -2.81%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,968.00p -2.46%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,038.00p -2.35%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,461.00p -2.30%
