FTSE 100 movers: IMI rallies; Centrica hit by downgrade

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,592.32 in afternoon trade on Wednesday. IMI was the top gainer on the index as JPMorgan said in a research note on the European capital goods sector that it was among the stocks to own for the balance of the year.

Centrica was under the cosh after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the British Gas owner to 'equalweight' from 'overweight' and said it would switch into SSE, Engie or Fortum.

The bank noted that Centrica shares have risen 116% over the past year, outperforming both the sector and FTSE 350 by around 110%.

"We see the shares now approaching fair value and see better risk-reward opportunities elsewhere in the sector."

Land Securities was weaker even as it reported a rise in lettings over the first five months of the financial year as demand for office space held up, despite rising interest rates.

RS Group fell, having surged on Tuesday after markets blog Betaville reported it was in the midst of "a fresh round of takeover speculation" in one of its latest uncooked alerts.



FTSE 100 - Risers

IMI (IMI) 1,569.00p 4.74% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,121.00p 1.97% Glencore (GLEN) 457.15p 1.20% BP (BP.) 537.00p 1.15% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 9,346.00p 1.13% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,109.00p 1.09% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 240.20p 1.05% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 146.90p 0.93% Halma (HLMA) 1,922.00p 0.92% Shell (SHEL) 2,622.00p 0.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 634.40p -6.92% Centrica (CNA) 159.60p -3.94% Unite Group (UTG) 888.50p -3.42% Land Securities Group (LAND) 585.40p -3.27% RS Group (RS1) 725.80p -3.10% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 254.60p -2.71% St James's Place (STJ) 815.80p -1.78% Airtel Africa (AAF) 124.80p -1.73% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,012.00p -1.65% M&G (MNG) 204.00p -1.50%