By Patrick Munnelly, Market Analyst, Tickmill
The FTSE 100 saw modest gains in today’s session, closing up 0.37% at 7662.94 having started higher at the open. Late weakness can be attributed to the markets Stateside with US benchmarks trading with a softer tone.
FTSE-100: The biggest movers
The session opened with further gains for household and personal care provider Haleon LON:HLN. The name saw further upside on yesterday’s upgrade from Bernstein who initiated coverage with an ‘Outperform’ rating, suggesting the business will benefit from its status as a defensive stock, with the healthcare category considered to be one of those best placed to perform in an economic downturn. The shares added almost 3% by the end of the day.
AstraZeneca LON:AZN also saw a decent uptick as a UK court ruled that its rival GSK’s Tesaro owed royalties to AstraZeneca for sales of its ovarian cancer medication Zejula. According to company filings, sales for the drug topped £460 million in 2022, AstraZeneca shares saw a 3% gain today on the news.
On the negative side of the ledger, RS Group LON:RS1 sank to the bottom of the table as the blue chip reported a significant slowdown in fourth quarter sales momentum. Q4 like for like growth came in at 1% a steep decline form the 8% in Q3. Investors shed the company shares at pace leaving them trading down by over 6%. The company added that their American exposure meant that destocking and a general softer market weighed on performance.
