(Sharecast News) – London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 7,498.66 in afternoon trade on Friday.
NatWest was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ at Barclays.
“We upgrade NatWest on signs of slowing deposit migration, now see the bank as best placed to overcome term-funding risks, and look for a substantial rebound in NIM and earnings, ahead of consensus, driven by a best-in-class structural hedge tailwind. NatWest is now our preferred pick among UK bank,” it said.
On the downside, retailers Marks & Spencer and B&M were both in the red after data from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales unexpectedly fell in October as wet weather and the cost-of-living squeeze took their toll.
Retail sales declined by 0.3% on the month following a revised 1.1% drop in September, missing expectations for a 0.3% increase.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,255.50p 3.65%
Fresnillo (FRES) 554.20p 3.20%
Prudential (PRU) 946.20p 3.12%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 649.20p 3.01%
Glencore (GLEN) 470.85p 2.88%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 206.30p 2.69%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 657.40p 2.69%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,306.00p 2.67%
Halma (HLMA) 2,080.00p 2.56%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 726.80p 2.37%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 251.80p -1.33%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,808.00p -0.72%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 529.80p -0.56%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,057.00p -0.47%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,073.00p -0.43%
Pearson (PSON) 944.80p -0.42%
Tesco (TSCO) 274.90p -0.15%
Sage Group (SGE) 984.60p -0.08%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 264.30p -0.04%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,780.00p 0.11%
