FTSE 100 movers: Gold stocks rise as dollar weakens; EasyJet flies lower
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,674.15 in afternoon trade on Friday as US President Donald Trump ramped up his trade war rhetoric.
British American Tobacco was the standout gainer, bouncing back from losses suffered after US rival Philip Morris cut its profit guidance for 2018. Liberum noted that BAT competes with PM's tobacco heating product in Japan, suggesting lower potential growth for BAT in this category.
The brokerage said: "We think BAT and Imperial Tobacco are on track to restore investor confidence and we will not change out BATS/IMB estimates based on PM's results."
Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources shone as gold prices rose on the back of a falling dollar after US President Trump said in an interview with CNBC that he was ready to impose tariffs on all $500bn of US imports from China.
Unilever was on the rise for the second day in a row as the consumer goods giant confirmed the successful completion of the first half of its €6bn share buyback programme and as it benefited a number of target price upgrades from the likes of Barclays, Jefferies and Berenberg following its results on Thursday.
Going the other way, budget airline EasyJet flew lower following a report that it was still interested in Alitalia after Italy's transport minister said the airline will remain the national flag carrier but needed an operation partner.
According to Corriere della Sera, the chief executive of EasyJet confirmed the company's continued interest in Alitalia, following comments from transport minister Danilo Toninelli earlier in the week that "Alitalia must remain 51% Italian", with the remaining 49% in the hands of a partner.
FTSE 100 - Risers
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,981.50p 3.09%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 502.60p 2.34%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,079.50p 2.08%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,100.00p 1.85%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,122.00p 1.22%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,592.00p 1.01%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,366.50p 0.83%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 255.90p 0.79%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,164.00p 0.74%
Diageo (DGE) 2,873.75p 0.62%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,603.00p -2.38%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 338.00p -2.28%
CRH (CRH) 2,656.00p -2.17%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 214.00p -2.01%
Glencore (GLEN) 310.50p -1.97%
Just Eat (JE.) 862.20p -1.80%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,036.00p -1.74%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,609.40p -1.73%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,595.60p -1.63%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 680.00p -1.59%