London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 7,616.37 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Online supermarket Ocado was the top riser on the index, with traders pointing to short covering in retail stocks. JD Sports was also among the gainers.
SSE rallied after it lifted full-year earnings per share guidance again as it hailed a strong performance from its flexible generation plant.
The energy company now expects adjusted EPS of more than 160p per share for the full-year 2022/23, up from previous guidance of more than 150p. SSE had already lifted its guidance in January from at least 120p a share to at least 150p.
Going the other way, Phoenix Group, Aviva, Abrdn, Smith & Nephew, Taylor Wimpey and Mondi all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 521.60p 9.12%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,028.00p 5.79%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 621.60p 4.19%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 175.15p 4.13%
SSE (SSE) 1,809.00p 4.12%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 148.44p 3.75%
British Land Company (BLND) 387.50p 3.58%
Entain (ENT) 1,248.50p 3.52%
Unite Group (UTG) 934.00p 3.32%
SEGRO (SGRO) 756.80p 3.25%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 543.80p -4.06%
Aviva (AV.) 407.30p -3.05%
Abrdn (ABDN) 202.80p -2.83%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,100.50p -1.78%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 119.45p -1.57%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,286.00p -1.42%
BAE Systems (BA.) 973.80p -1.28%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,843.50p -1.10%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,438.00p -0.86%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,800.00p -0.81%
