FTSE 100 movers: Sky rallies on Comcast deal, TUI hit by Thomas Cook warning
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,471.84 in afternoon trade on Monday as trade tensions between the US and China took a turn for the worse.
Sky was the standout gainer after Comcast outbid 21st Century Fox for the broadcaster over the weekend with a £17.28 a share, or £30.6bn bid. Sky said the offer represents an "excellent outcome", as it urged its shareholders to accept.
Shore Capital said the Comcast offer "substantially exceeds" its assessment of Sky's intrinsic value, particularly as it reckons the broadcaster faces significant challenges in the coming years in areas such as competition for viewers, content cost inflation, and erosions of its pricing and subscription structures.
Randgold Resources was also a high riser after agreeing a nil-premium merger with larger Canadian rival Barrick Gold to create the world's largest gold mining company.
"The potential for cost savings is high, and two companies that are muddling along might create one reasonably profitable group," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP were on the front foot as Brent crude hit its highest level since 2014, climbing above $80 a barrel after OPEC and its allies refrained from agreeing a production increase over the weekend.
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, noted that OPEC and its allies had been rumoured to be considering raising their output by 500,000 barrels a day at their meeting in Algeria and this speculation caused a swift drop in the price on Friday afternoon.
Travel operator TUI was under the cosh, tracking losses for FTSE 250 peer Thomas Cook, which warned that profits for the full year would be lower than expected after the long, hot summer created fiercer than usual industry competition in the 'lates' market.
Elsewhere, tech stocks such as Micro Focus, Just Eat and Sage were lower, in sync with the falls seen at the end of last week for Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Sky (SKY) 1,723.00p 8.71%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,194.00p 5.50%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 983.50p 1.65%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,601.00p 1.27%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 915.20p 1.24%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 318.00p 1.21%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,345.00p 1.06%
Tesco (TSCO) 239.30p 1.06%
BP (BP.) 572.90p 1.04%
Royal Mail (RMG) 481.20p 0.90%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,380.50p -3.05%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 215.90p -2.09%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,542.50p -2.06%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,334.00p -2.06%
Sage Group (SGE) 571.00p -2.02%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,851.00p -2.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 878.20p -1.96%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,121.00p -1.67%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,840.00p -1.67%
Just Eat (JE.) 662.80p -1.66%