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FTSE 100 movers: Persimmon boosted by upgrade; Aviva gains

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was 0.2% higher at 7,472.95 in afternoon trade on Friday. Persimmon got a boost after Morgan Stanley double-upgraded shares of the housebuilder to 'overweight' from 'underweight' and hiked the price target to 1,685p from 1,131p.

It noted that Persimmon's niche is affordable homes on a UK-wide basis, and its underweight thesis was partly based on rising affordability risks.

"As mortgage rates fall, and affordability improves, we think the business presents the best leverage to a volume recovery of the stocks under our coverage," MS said.

"Persimmon has most to play for under a near-term upside scenario. The stock benefits from highest operating leverage (volumes down most in 2023 YoY of the 4 stocks under coverage) and largest potential gross margin recovery based on the gross margin embedded in the land bank. Further, the stock is overexposed to the first-time buyer, hard hit in 2023."

Aviva was in the black as JPMorgan Cazenove lifted its price target on the shares to 575p from 545p in a note on the UK life insurance sector.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,790.00p 3.71% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 110.60p 2.17% Persimmon (PSN) 1,454.00p 2.04% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,600.00p 1.93% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 5,496.00p 1.85% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,598.00p 1.59% SSE (SSE) 1,759.50p 1.35% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 399.80p 1.34% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,112.00p 1.32% Aviva (AV.) 432.60p 1.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 561.80p -1.68% Whitbread (WTB) 3,585.00p -1.38% Kingfisher (KGF) 217.50p -1.05% Pearson (PSON) 948.20p -1.00% Glencore (GLEN) 416.05p -0.91% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,251.00p -0.84% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 251.90p -0.83% Next (NXT) 8,322.00p -0.76% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 304.20p -0.75% St James's Place (STJ) 633.00p -0.66%

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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