London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,627.45 in afternoon trade on Monday.
Prudential was the worst performer on the index, closely followed by Hargreaves Lansdown.
On the upside, Sainsbury’s gained after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies.
The bank, which kept its price target at 300p, said: “We note the extent to which current valuation levels de-risk shareholders from meaningful downside with the stock troughing at around 12x following a mid-teens rebasing in mid-term earnings expectations back in the midst of the global financial crisis.
“The critical difference in the business between now and then is a vastly improved capital structure, which major balance strengthening seeing adjusted leverage reduce from 3.7x to a likely current level of circa 3x; we expect the company to outline a refreshed capital allocation process with its 28 April finals, one which will provide visibility of a greater alignment between FC and distributions to shareholders.”
Education publisher Pearson was also trading up after Goldman Sachs said in a note on internet and media shares that it was among the most attractive buy-rated names in a stagflationary environment.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Mondi (MNDI) 1,451.00p 2.69%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,018.00p 2.49%
BAE Systems (BA.) 760.20p 2.23%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,137.00p 2.18%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 8,558.00p 1.93%
Pearson (PSON) 775.40p 1.73%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 250.60p 1.62%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,689.50p 1.35%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 130.96p 1.30%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,430.00p 1.10%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Prudential (PRU) 1,063.00p -3.58%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 996.60p -3.29%
Experian (EXPN) 2,814.00p -3.20%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 944.00p -2.98%
Halma (HLMA) 2,457.00p -2.96%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,543.00p -2.91%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,702.00p -2.63%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,804.00p -2.58%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 143.55p -2.35%
Rightmove (RMV) 630.60p -2.32%
