Source: Sharecast
The FTSE 100 was steady at 6,960.11, while the pound was down 0.4% against the dollar at 1.2828 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1300 as EU leaders prepare to meet later in the day to finalise the Brexit deal ahead of the EU summit on Sunday.
Spain has threatened to vote against the deal at the summit unless its concerns about Gibraltar are addressed. It wants the deal to make clear that negotiations about the future relationship between Gibraltar and the EU will be conducted separately to those between the UK and EU and that they can only proceed with approval from Madrid.
"With Sunday’s EU-UK Brexit summit back on after yesterday’s progress, any soundbites on remaining resolutions, be it actual progress or hopes thereof, as well as threats or actual spanners in the works, could keep GBP and thus the FTSE and its components on edge into the weekend," said Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken.
In terms of sectors, miners were the biggest drag, with BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio all in the red as copper prices declined.
Oil stocks were also under pressure, with Royal Dutch Shell and BP trading lower on the FTSE 100 and Premier Oil, Cairn Energy and Tullow among the 250 fallers as oil prices hit a 2018 low amid worries about a global supply glut.
With little going on in terms of corporate releases, broker notes provided much of the action.
B&Q owner Kingfisher was hit by a downgrade to 'neutral' from Goldman Sachs, while Pearson retreated as Shore Capital cut it to 'hold'.
Fashion retailer Ted Baker slumped as Jefferies slashed its price target to 1,950p from 2,700p, while Fresnillo continued to slide on concerns about proposed Mexican mining laws.
Indivior gave up its early gains despite some much-needed good news, as regulators in Canada approved the drug developer's new monthly treatment for opioid addiction. Health Canada gave the green light to Sublocade, an extended-release buprenorphine injection for the management of moderate to severe opioid use disorder in adults.
On the upside, Royal Mail was the standout gainer on the top-flight index, still buoyed by an upgrade from RBC Capital Markets a day earlier following its first-half results last week.
Ibstock surged to the top of the 250 as it announced the sale of its US brick making unit Glen-Gery to Brickworks Limited for an enterprise value of $110m and use the proceeds to pay off debt. The company also said it still expected to deliver adjusted EBITDA of £121m - £125m for the year to end-December (which assumed a full year 2018 contribution from Glen-Gery of £11m). Ibstock was also given a leg up from an upgrade to 'buy' at Peel Hunt.
Hastings Group was a high riser after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Barclays, while CYBG was boosted by upgrades to 'buy' and 'neutral' at Citi and Credit Suisse, respectively. Burberry edged up after an upgrade to 'hold' at Kepler Cheuvreux.
Outside the FTSE 350, Flybe flew 39% higher as it confirmed talks with Virgin Atlantic, as one of several parties, about a potential takeover of the struggling budget airline.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,960.11 -0.00%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,522.35 -0.04%
techMARK (TASX) 3,413.33 0.22%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 337.40p 3.02%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 323.60p 2.99%
Sage Group (SGE) 576.40p 2.89%
WPP (WPP) 855.60p 2.81%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,735.00p 2.43%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,023.00p 2.15%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,938.00p 2.13%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 57.19p 2.13%
British Land Company (BLND) 600.00p 1.94%
Ferguson (FERG) 4,837.00p 1.81%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 477.10p -2.91%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,533.20p -2.53%
Fresnillo (FRES) 782.40p -2.49%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 611.40p -2.11%
Centrica (CNA) 129.60p -2.04%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,378.50p -1.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,611.40p -1.94%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,699.00p -1.83%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,343.00p -1.70%
Pearson (PSON) 937.20p -1.60%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Ibstock (IBST) 239.60p 9.51%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 353.60p 4.37%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 207.51p 2.98%
Softcat (SCT) 607.00p 2.53%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 193.40p 2.33%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 876.00p 2.22%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 598.50p 1.96%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 452.00p 1.94%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 290.00p 1.86%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 958.40p 1.85%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Premier Oil (PMO) 68.75p -5.63%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 192.85p -4.72%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,787.03p -4.13%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 120.00p -4.08%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 105.14p -3.42%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 172.50p -3.09%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 178.65p -2.91%
CYBG (CYBG) 192.60p -2.58%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,028.00p -2.31%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,062.00p -1.98%
