London’s FTSE 100 was down 1% at 7,025.39 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
British airways and Iberia parent IAG was the worst performer on the index. Traders pointed to possible read-across from budget airline easyJet, which slid as it said it would raise £1.2bn from shareholders in a rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet after turning down a preliminary takeover approach.
GKN owner Melrose and precious metals miner Hochschild were both weaker as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Going the other way, B&M European Value Retail was a high riser again, having rallied on Wednesday after the company said it expected interim core earnings to be ahead of analysts’ forecasts on the back of stronger gross margins.
The owner of convenience retail stores said adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the six months to September 25 would be in a range of £275m to £285m, versus consensus of around £235m.
FTSE 100 – Risers
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 585.00p 1.21%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,730.00p 0.48%
Halma (HLMA) 3,061.00p 0.43%
BAE Systems (BA.) 557.20p 0.40%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 453.80p 0.35%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,332.00p 0.34%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 686.40p 0.32%
Fresnillo (FRES) 851.40p 0.19%
M&G (MNG) 199.25p 0.10%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 42.45p 0.09%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 147.62p -3.58%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 177.90p -3.47%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,509.00p -3.31%
Prudential (PRU) 1,487.00p -2.87%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,182.00p -2.77%
BT Group (BT.A) 160.65p -2.55%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,398.50p -2.54%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,443.50p -2.50%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,181.00p -2.34%
Royal Mail (RMG) 472.70p -2.23%
