London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,499.09 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Barclays was the standout gainer after the bank said annual profits more than doubled, boosted by economic recovery and the release of provisions for bad loans during the Covid pandemic. Barclays reported a record annual pre-tax profit of £8.4bn, up from £3.1bn in 2020.
Russian steelmaker Evraz was in the red amid worries about the impact of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
B&Q owner Kingfisher was under the cosh after Societe Generale downgraded the shares to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’. “While inflation and buoyant demand are expected to be supportive, rising interest rates could hurt Kingfisher’s UK business,” SocGen said.
Rio Tinto edged lower even as the Anglo-Australian miner declared a massive final dividend as profits surged on the back of rising commodity prices.
Veterinary pharmaceuticals group Dechra Pharmaceuticals was in the red even as Liberum upped the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ and lifted the price target following share price weakness.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Barclays (BARC) 200.35p 5.36%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,010.00p 3.26%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,305.50p 3.00%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 121.26p 2.75%
3i Group (III) 1,344.00p 2.67%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,443.00p 2.67%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,331.00p 2.35%
St James’s Place (STJ) 1,501.50p 1.93%
SSE (SSE) 1,612.00p 1.86%
M&G (MNG) 219.00p 1.81%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 259.00p -7.93%
Kingfisher (KGF) 303.10p -3.22%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,499.00p -1.93%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,593.00p -1.72%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,486.00p -1.23%
Fresnillo (FRES) 673.60p -1.03%
Royal Mail (RMG) 398.30p -0.97%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 788.20p -0.88%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 592.00p -0.80%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,806.00p -0.78%
