FTSE 100 movers: Miners rally; Croda slumps after results

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,688.42 in afternoon trade on Tuesday. Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto gained.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, pointed to the fact that China "took steps to bolster confidence in its currency and economy ahead of a big leadership summit which kicks off in Beijing in early March".

Endeavour Mining was up as it said that wet commissioning activities are now underway at the Sabodala-Massawa Expansion project in Senegal, with first gold expected in early May.

On the downside, Imperial Brands lost ground following reports the government may announce a new vaping tax at next week's Budget.

Speciality chemicals company Croda International slumped as it warned of lower operating margins after posting a drop in 2023 profits due to customers destocking and a weak macroeconomic environment.

Unilever was in the red as Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to 'underweight' from 'equalweight' and cut the price target to 3,775p from 4,100p.

The bank said that while it's not significantly below consensus on earnings, it thinks Unilever's re-rating - to a small premium to Staples - is overdone, particularly given weaker cash conversion and higher emerging markets exposure, relative to peers.

Morgan Stanley noted that following a stronger performance in recent weeks, Unilever now trades at 17.6x 2024e price-to-earnings versus European Staples overall, on 17.4x.



FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,773.60p 2.72% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,813.50p 2.26% Vodafone Group (VOD) 67.24p 1.76% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,150.00p 1.64% SSE (SSE) 1,585.50p 1.37% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,279.00p 1.27% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 602.30p 1.11% Diageo (DGE) 3,024.50p 1.07% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,300.50p 1.05% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 233.60p 1.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,734.50p -4.62% Croda International (CRDA) 4,740.00p -3.32% Unilever (ULVR) 3,911.00p -2.13% Persimmon (PSN) 1,352.50p -1.96% RS Group (RS1) 769.80p -1.91% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 468.70p -1.80% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 139.40p -1.76% Informa (INF) 811.60p -1.72% Relx plc (REL) 3,447.00p -1.63% Frasers Group (FRAS) 818.00p -1.62%