London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.9% at 7,511.55 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG was the standout gainer on the index after the government confirmed it will scrap Covid tests for double-jabbed travellers to England.
The shares also benefited from some upbeat commentary from Stifel, which stuck to its ‘buy’ rating on IAG and said it remained one of its top picks in the sector. Stifel highlighted strong post-corona fundamentals and “unfounded” capital increase concerns.
On the downside, precious metals miner Fresnillo slumped as it forecast a bigger-than-expected hit to 2022 production due to the Covid Omicron variant and new Mexican labour laws.
Software company Sage was also weaker even as it backed its FY22 guidance and reported a strong start to the year.
FTSE 100 – Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 158.94p 7.42%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,887.00p 4.98%
Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,898.80p 4.79%
Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,897.40p 4.78%
BP (BP.) 395.45p 4.16%
ITV (ITV) 112.75p 4.06%
Barclays (BARC) 204.20p 3.81%
Prudential (PRU) 1,263.00p 3.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 403.15p 3.65%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,684.50p 3.57%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 714.20p -11.28%
Sage Group (SGE) 728.40p -4.46%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,872.50p -1.61%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,266.00p -1.34%
Royal Mail (RMG) 437.20p -1.15%
Pearson (PSON) 615.20p -0.61%
National Grid (NG.) 1,079.40p -0.17%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,446.00p -0.16%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 513.20p -0.12%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,992.00p -0.05%
