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(Sharecast News) - London's benchmark blue chip index was trading slightly lower on Monday afternoon, as gains in the telecoms and tech sectors were offset by falls among financial and travel stocks.
Telecoms stocks were broadly in demand, with Vodafone, Airtel Africa and BT Group securing the top spots on the FTSE 100 risers list as the sector continues to benefit from last week's M&A activity.
Vodafone, in particular, was extending gains made on Friday after French billionaire Xavier Niel agreed to acquire Emirates Telecommunications Group's entire stake in the company for £4.4bn, sending shares in the UK firm soaring. The deal has prompted a 17%-plus surge in the stock over the past two sessions.
Also in favour were tech and software stocks, including Computacenter as brokers raised their estimates after a strong trading update from the company last week. Bank of America initiated coverage of the stock with a 'buy' rating, while Stifel upgraded its recommendation from 'hold' to 'buy'.
On the way down were financial heavyweights Standard Chartered, Natwest, IG Group and Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust.
Airlines IAG and easyJet were on the descent as oil prices rose strongly following the latest bout of conflict between the US and Iran. The US Central Command said on Saturday that it had struck more than 140 targets across Iran in response to Tehran attacking another commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, causing Brent crude to jump 3.6% to $78.81 a barrel.
In contrast, energy majors BP and Shell were tracking oil prices higher.
GSK was lower despite the news that its potential treatment for rectal cancer, Jemperli, had shown positive results in interim testing. A clinically significant rate of participants showed no detectable signs of cancer a year or more after treatment, GSK confirmed.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,482.86 -0.14%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,329.26 -0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 5,927.14 0.43%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 114.65p 4.81%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 339.00p 3.61%
BT Group (BT.A) 196.15p 3.21%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,066.50p 2.99%
Computacenter (CCC) 4,576.00p 2.60%
BP (BP.) 497.95p 2.59%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 85.96p 2.24%
Diageo (DGE) 1,561.50p 2.10%
Pearson (PSON) 1,300.00p 2.09%
Entain (ENT) 564.20p 1.85%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,758.00p -2.82%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,453.50p -2.00%
Halma (HLMA) 3,584.00p -1.97%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 461.60p -1.95%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,412.80p -1.53%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,610.00p -1.53%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,603.00p -1.40%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 655.00p -1.23%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,097.00p -1.18%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,408.00p -0.96%
