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FTSE 100 movers: Glencore, AstraZeneca and M&S lead decline
London's blue chip index fell on Friday, led by Glencore, AstraZeneca and Marks & Spencer.
Glencore's shares were hit by reports that the UK's Serious Fraud Office was making preparations to open a formal investigation into the commodities giant over its work with the leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler. Citing "two people with knowledge of the matter", Bloomberg reported that SFO investigators were set to seek approval for a full-scale probe of Glencore's operations in the DRC.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said the initial share price reaction "seems completely overdone in our view", with the potential for an SFO investigation been "around for years" and an investigation if it does proceed "will potentially take years". Although expecting the Congolese situation to remain "noisy", with Glencore shares looking cheaper than rivals, the analysts "continue to see medium-term value with potential catalysts from progress on the DRC situations in the near term".
AstraZeneca fell after first-quarter sales and earnings came in lower than expected due to investment in drug launches and a larger erosion of its Crestor statin drug than expected, but there were encouraging performance from newer drugs.
Analysts at Jefferies said the quarter's relatively low core EPS number reflected volatile components, while respiratory drugs Pulmicort and Symbicort missed estimates by 9% and 1%, but impressive starts were made by newly launched Tagrisso and Lynparza both beat expectations by 4% and 7%.
Amid wince-inducing news that it was temporarily rebranding as Markle & Sparkle to celebrate the Royal Wedding, Marks & Spencer fell as investors winced about next Wednesday's annual results and the possibility of dropping out of the FTSE 100 for the first time since the index was created in 1984. M&S, which is among the most shorted stocks on the market, is not yet in a position to lose its place in the benchmark, but a weak set of results could send it from its current 103rd place down past the cricitcal 110th spot by the 29 May deadline.
Shares in chemicals group Johnson Matthey retreated after hitting an 18-month high of 3,546p the day before. The stock is up 11% so far in 2018.
Vodafone slipped as Citigroup downgraded its shares to 'neutral' from 'buy', while Smith & Nephew was hit by a Commerzbank downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Lloyds Banking was among the fallers despite getting £4bn, more than it initially expected, from the sale of its Irish residential mortgage portfolio to Barclays.
Going the other way, DS Smith led the pack was the standout gainer after it was repackaged with an 'outperform' rating by broker Davy up from 'neutral'.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,774.46 -0.17%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,977.84 -0.20%
techMARK (TASX) 3,499.22 -0.58%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,605.00p 2.38%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 554.94p 2.12%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 857.40p 2.12%
National Grid (NG.) 881.00p 1.96%
CRH (CRH) 2,777.00p 1.57%
Relx plc (REL) 1,620.00p 1.44%
3i Group (III) 990.00p 1.39%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,592.25p 1.22%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,363.00p 1.04%
Just Eat (JE.) 832.80p 0.99%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Glencore (GLEN) 379.20p -4.69%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,223.00p -2.28%
Old Mutual (OML) 244.93p -1.91%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,479.00p -1.81%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 292.00p -1.78%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 289.90p -1.56%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 193.16p -1.47%
Royal Mail (RMG) 547.00p -1.44%
Pearson (PSON) 910.60p -1.13%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 663.60p -1.10%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Capita (CPI) 140.10p 6.30%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 2,700.00p 3.85%
Greggs (GRG) 1,085.00p 3.73%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 276.26p 2.39%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,254.00p 2.28%
Homeserve (HSV) 840.50p 2.25%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 267.40p 2.06%
Bodycote (BOY) 944.00p 1.89%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 232.73p 1.85%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,062.00p 1.72%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 129.70p -6.76%
Contour Global (GLO) 240.00p -4.76%
Rank Group (RNK) 162.40p -4.36%
Cobham (COB) 119.50p -3.28%
Grainger (GRI) 312.00p -3.11%
BTG (BTG) 612.00p -2.78%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 600.40p -2.66%
CYBG (CYBG) 294.40p -2.52%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 603.00p -2.27%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 121.30p -2.26%