London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 6,748.07 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals was the top performer after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies.
“We upgrade to buy as we believe the shares are yet to reflect a series of upcoming product catalysts beyond gVascepa & Gx Advair,” it said. “As a momentum stock we look beyond FY21; our FY22 EBITA forecasts are 5% above consensus; FY23 is 11%.”
The bank also noted potential upside from Gx pricing if current trends persist. “We continue to view injectables in rude health,” it added.
BT Group was also in the black after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the shares to ‘buy’.
Oil giant BP was on the back foot after a downgrade to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley. The bank said its fundamental views on BP – and Total, which it also downgraded – were unchanged but it was cutting the ratings to compensate for a double-upgrade of Eni.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,280.00p 3.64%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,094.00p 1.81%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,415.00p 1.64%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,434.00p 1.63%
BT Group (BT.A) 156.20p 1.63%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,336.00p 1.48%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,410.00p 1.48%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,556.50p 1.30%
SSE (SSE) 1,452.50p 1.25%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,107.00p 1.10%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
British Land Company (BLND) 511.40p -2.03%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,849.00p -1.96%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 503.60p -1.95%
WPP (WPP) 929.00p -1.94%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,343.60p -1.83%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,421.00p -1.73%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,042.00p -1.62%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,883.00p -1.57%
Rightmove (RMV) 578.20p -1.50%
BP (BP.) 297.05p -1.48%
