Source: Sharecast
Housebuilder Persimmon was in the black as data from the Bank of England showed that mortgage approvals jumped in April by more than expected.
According to the central bank’s latest Money and Credit Report, there were 65,940 net mortgage approvals for house purchases, higher than the six-month average of around 63,100 and March’s 63,980. Consensus had been for a decline to around 61,700.
Miners Antofagasta and Anglo American rose as copper prices advanced.
On the downside, British American Tobacco fell after it said in a first-half update that it was on track to meet the lower end of full-year guidance.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "People often consider tobacco and vaping companies to be ‘sleep at night’ investments, offering no drama and delivering slow and steady returns. British American Tobacco’s latest update could cause a few nightmares as a chunk of its business isn’t as good as expected.
"It is guiding for full-year results to be at the lower end of its medium-term guidance ranges, weighed down by expectations for cigarette volumes to decline at a faster rate than previously thought.
"So-called ‘new category’ product demand, which includes vaping and heated tobacco products, is picking up. That should be good news to investors, yet it appears the market had expected the tobacco cash cow to remain stronger for longer."
Peer Imperial Brands also fell.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Kingfisher (KGF) 285.30p 3.55%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,243.00p 2.80%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,058.00p 2.44%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 41.50p 2.42%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,076.50p 2.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,315.00p 2.25%
Next (NXT) 13,190.00p 2.25%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,141.00p 2.22%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 156.60p 2.12%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 634.50p 2.09%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 336.20p -4.36%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,428.00p -2.66%
Experian (EXPN) 2,610.00p -2.35%
The Sage Group (SGE) 888.80p -2.16%
Haleon (HLN) 320.60p -1.71%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,028.50p -1.48%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,647.00p -1.26%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,934.00p -1.16%
GSK (GSK) 1,819.00p -1.11%
Relx plc (REL) 2,505.00p -0.98%