FTSE 100 movers: easyJet climbs on Citigroup comments

1st Oct 2013 15:10

Budget airline easyJet was a high riser today after analysts at Citigroup said they expect full-year profits to be "near the upper-end of previous guidance". The company said in July that pre-tax profit would be between £450m to £480m; Citi's forecast is £474m.Shares in betting group William Hill were recovering after Citigroup lowered its target price on the stock from 515p to 500p at the beginning of the week. Travis Perkins climbed after the same broker reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock. Plumbers merchant Wolseley gained after saying it experienced a year of "solid progress in varied markets" as it saw headline profits more than double in the year to July 31st due to lower impairments and exceptional items. The company also raised its dividend by a tenth and revealed a £300m capital return to shareholders via a special dividend and share consolidation.Meanwhile, miners - in particular Fresnillo - were weighing heavily on the top tier index after China´s manufacturing sector purchasing managers´ index for September came in at 50.2, below the "preliminary" print of 51.2, which was also the consensus expectation. Randgold, Anglo American, Glencore Xstrata and Rio Tinto were all also firmly lower. Consumer products group Unilever was also a heavy faller after markets reacted to a surprise trading update after the close last night which said that the company witnessed a weakening in the market growth of many emerging countries in the third quarter. The company is now guiding to organic growth of just 3-3.5%, well below the 6% forecast by Nomura.Other consumer staples stocks - amongst which are some who also have substantial exposure to emergng markets - including SABMiller, Diageo, Reckitt Benckiser, Coca-Cola HBC and Imperial Tobacco were also lower today. FTSE 100 - RiserseasyJet (EZJ) 1,318.00p +3.13%William Hill (WMH) 415.20p +3.03%Aviva (AV.) 408.50p +2.95%Wolseley (WOS) 3,285.00p +2.75%Prudential (PRU) 1,175.00p +2.09%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,134.00p +1.98%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,682.00p +1.94%Barclays (BARC) 269.20p +1.39%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,558.00p +1.37%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,212.00p +1.34%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 922.50p -5.19%Unilever (ULVR) 2,346.00p -3.85%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,296.00p -3.48%Anglo American (AAL) 1,466.00p -3.43%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 325.40p -3.36%Aggreko (AGK) 1,559.00p -2.81%SABMiller (SAB) 3,056.00p -2.78%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,217.50p -1.80%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,442.00p -1.73%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,972.50p -1.67%NR