Source: Sharecast
British American Tobacco was the top performer on the index as UBS upgraded it to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’, hiked the price target to 3,900p from 3,000p and made the stock its "top pick".
The bank said it expects BAT's Velo nicotine pouches to accelerate sales growth in New Categories to 16% in FY26, enabling the group to deliver its 2026 outlook.
"Also, there could be flexibility in BAT's 25.5% stake in ITC, for larger buybacks/ debt reduction," UBS said, which could lead to a re-rating.
As a result, UBS said, BAT's estimated FY26 'stub' price-to-earnings of 6.6x is low.
"Helped by USD strength, we raise our FY25/26 EPS estimates by +3%/+5% - similarly above consensus including Canada - and raise our target price to £39.0 (from £30.0), which is based on a FY26E P/E of 9.5x (-10% discount to the tobacco sector versus -7y average of circa -20%), rolled-forward," it said.
EasyJet flew higher as Ryanair posted better-than-expected third-quarter profit despite another cut in passenger number projections due to delays in Boeing aircraft delivery.
Heavily-weighted miners were among the worst performers after weak Chinese manufacturing data, with Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta all down.
FTSE 100 - Risers
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,127.00p 3.96%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 129.90p 3.10%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 245.60p 2.59%
easyJet (EZJ) 498.80p 2.53%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,319.00p 2.44%
Schroders (SDR) 340.40p 1.92%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,482.00p 1.85%
GSK (GSK) 1,380.50p 1.77%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,620.00p 1.67%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.12p 1.67%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,379.50p -6.15%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,001.50p -5.43%
Halma (HLMA) 2,797.00p -3.95%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,228.00p -3.22%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,926.00p -2.77%
Glencore (GLEN) 365.00p -2.77%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 589.00p -2.74%
Diploma (DPLM) 4,372.00p -2.19%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,717.00p -2.14%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,266.00p -2.07%