FTSE 100 movers: Fresnillo shines on higher gold prices; Flutter falls

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,256.51 in afternoon trade on Friday. Fresnillo shot to the top of the leaderboard as gold prices reached new record highs of over $2,500 per ounce.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The glittering performance has been buoyed by sustained high levels of purchases by central banks in the face of a weakening dollar, geopolitical uncertainty and the downward looking trajectory for interest rates.

"These conditions could persist for a while so there's potential for the high-water mark to rise further in the coming months."

On the downside, AstraZeneca was under the cosh after a downgrade to 'sell' at Deutsche Bank.

Flutter Entertainment fell as the Paddy Power owner announced the acquisition of a 56% stake in NSX Group, a Brazilian operator of the Betnacional brand, for around $350m.

Flutter said the deal fully aligns with its strategy to invest in leadership positions in international markets, "securing a podium position for Flutter on completion in the regulating and fast-growing Brazilian market".

NSX is the number four operator in Brazil, with a portfolio of brands which include the flagship Betnacional brand. On a standalone basis, it is expected to generate revenue of about $256m and adjusted EBITDA of $34m in 2024.

GSK lost ground despite announcing that China's health authority has granted its Blenrep blood cancer treatment a so-called 'Breakthrough Therapy Designation' (BTD), which is designed to speed up development of investigational drugs.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 565.00p 5.12% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,294.00p 2.05% Airtel Africa (AAF) 118.00p 1.99% Entain (ENT) 728.00p 1.93% Burberry Group (BRBY) 595.60p 1.92% Schroders (SDR) 339.20p 1.80% Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,050.00p 1.77% BT Group (BT.A) 147.80p 1.76% Convatec Group (CTEC) 233.40p 1.48% M&G (MNG) 206.80p 1.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,806.00p -2.02% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 290.60p -1.76% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,575.00p -1.57% Compass Group (CPG) 2,427.00p -1.02% Rightmove (RMV) 660.80p -0.99% Sage Group (SGE) 1,029.00p -0.87% Vistry Group (VTY) 1,363.00p -0.66% GSK (GSK) 1,631.00p -0.46% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 350.20p -0.45% easyJet (EZJ) 489.40p -0.35%