FTSE 100 movers: Defensives gain, cyclicals tumble as stocks in freefall

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down a whopping 4.4% at 8,105.43 in afternoon trade on Friday, with markets in freefall after China announced retaliatory tariffs on the US. In a sea of red, defensive stocks were in the black, with utilities United Utilities, National Grid, SSE and Severn Trent all up, while Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco also gained.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said "defensive stocks continued to buck the selloff".

"You can see where people's priorities lie - keeping the lights on, having a smoke and a pint of Guinness are simple pleasures when the world is falling apart," he said.

Unsurprisingly, cyclical stocks - which are linked to the overall performance of the economy - were under the cosh. Miners Glencore, Antofagasta and Anglo American fell sharply, while banks Barclays and NatWest also tumbled.

FTSE 100 - Risers

United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,092.00p 1.96% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 375.80p 1.29% National Grid (NG.) 1,064.50p 1.09% SSE (SSE) 1,671.00p 1.09% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,716.00p 0.85% Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,924.00p 0.83% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.40p 0.42% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,990.00p 0.35% British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,191.00p 0.28% Unilever (ULVR) 4,788.00p 0.08%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Glencore (GLEN) 233.10p -10.62% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 670.80p -10.08% Melrose Industries (MRO) 407.90p -9.58% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,427.50p -8.61% Barclays (BARC) 247.95p -8.47% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 417.20p -7.80% Anglo American (AAL) 1,851.40p -7.61% St James's Place (STJ) 825.60p -7.17% IMI (IMI) 1,683.00p -7.02% Airtel Africa (AAF) 152.50p -7.01%