London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 7,220.01 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Vodafone, SSE and Auto Trader were the top performers on the index, closely followed by B&Q owner Kingfisher.
On the downside, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG flew lower after a downgrade to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ at Peel Hunt. The broker said IAG’s yields are unlikely to rise quickly enough to offset fuel cost pressures.
Elsewhere, miners Rio Tinto and Antofagasta were both weaker as metals prices fell.
Separately, Rio Tinto said it planned to invest $7.5bn halving carbon emissions by 2030, more than tripling its previous target.
Meanwhile, Chilean copper miner Antofagasta said copper and gold production had increased quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, in line with expectations.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 111.78p 2.18%
SSE (SSE) 1,622.00p 2.14%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 606.00p 1.85%
Kingfisher (KGF) 336.00p 1.69%
St James’s Place (STJ) 1,544.00p 1.68%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,860.50p 1.67%
BT Group (BT.A) 138.95p 1.42%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,463.00p 1.34%
Evraz (EVR) 640.80p 1.30%
Diageo (DGE) 3,650.50p 1.22%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 157.40p -4.93%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,812.50p -4.70%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,177.00p -3.43%
British Land Company (BLND) 484.60p -3.43%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 680.40p -2.61%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 136.46p -2.14%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,446.00p -2.03%
Informa (INF) 526.60p -1.94%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,035.50p -1.76%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 161.50p -1.73%
