FTSE 100 movers: Whitbread recovers; Rolls-Royce slumps

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.8% at 8,613.31 in afternoon trade on Monday. Premier Inn owner Whitbread was the top gainer, having slumped on Friday after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and slashed the price target to 3,000p from 4,400p as it took a look at European hotel stocks.

JPM said that while the shares have been weak for over a year now, down around 20%, the UK consumer seems to have deteriorated lately following the UK budget, with particular weakness in retailers weighted into spending from lower income demographics.

Utilities Severn Trent and National Grid advanced.

On the downside, Melrose was in the red, along with Rolls-Royce. Aerospace and defence groups were among the top gainers last week.

Susannah Street, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Defence stocks are set to stay in focus, as more detail about an increase in military spending is expected when Europe's finance ministers meet. Accessing bigger pools of funding to pay for a ramp up in capabilities will be in focus, with an expectation that existing EU funds will be tapped, and the European Investment Bank will provide further ballast. The need for defence to be put front and centre of spending decisions is being brought into sharp focus amid the intensifying attacks on Ukraine.

"President Zelensky is in Saudi Arabia, meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ahead of talks between Ukrainian and US officials about the war with Russia. Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the conflict and has raised the stakes for Ukraine by suspending military aid and intelligence sharing. The deal for the US to access Ukraine's rare earth minerals will be a big focus for this week's discussions, with hopes that calmer diplomacy will replace the of the shocking scenes between Zelensky, Trump and Vance at the White House."

FTSE 100 - Risers

Whitbread (WTB) 2,598.00p 3.34% Land Securities Group (LAND) 567.00p 3.28% Kingfisher (KGF) 266.80p 2.97% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,455.00p 2.59% British Land Company (BLND) 358.80p 2.34% National Grid (NG.) 950.20p 2.19% LondonMetric Property (LMP) 180.90p 2.09% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 259.80p 2.04% Unilever (ULVR) 4,693.00p 1.87% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 79.16p 1.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Melrose Industries (MRO) 455.60p -6.79% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 761.20p -5.02% Barclays (BARC) 285.45p -4.45% Entain (ENT) 694.00p -4.09% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,042.00p -4.04% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,779.50p -3.52% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,370.00p -3.23% Anglo American (AAL) 2,318.00p -2.67% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,370.00p -2.57% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,184.00p -2.55%