FTSE 100 movers: Rentokil jumps on upgrade; JD Sports hit by downgrade

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 1.5% at 10,150.47 in afternoon trade on Tuesday. Rentokil jumped on the back of an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equalweight' at Morgan Stanley, but DCC slumped after a downgrade to 'equalweight' by the same outfit.

High street retailer Next was among the top performers as it lifted full-year guidance on the back of better-than-expected festive trading.

It now expects total group sales in the year to 31 January to come in at £6.97bn and pre-tax profits of £1.15m. Next had previously guided for annual sales of £6.87bn and pre-tax profits of £1.14bn.

Defence firm Babcock was on the rise again, having rallied on Monday after the US capture over the weekend of Venezuelan leader Maduro, as investors also considered US President Trump's plans for Greenland, Cuba, Colombia and Mexico.

Tesco and Sainsbury's both gained ahead of trading statements on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The gains also came as the latest industry data from Worldpanel showed that supermarket sales rallied in December as shoppers sought out bargains and grocery inflation moderated.

On the downside, JD Sports slid as Bank of America downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 96p from 112p.

In a research note in which the bank also downgraded Adidas, BoA said it expects a "material stepdown" in the sector's growth and that the 20-year "casualisation trend" was largely complete.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 465.70p 4.63% Next (NXT) 14,095.00p 3.72% Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,388.00p 3.04% GSK (GSK) 1,875.00p 2.99% United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,234.50p 2.88% Tesco (TSCO) 455.30p 2.87% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 337.20p 2.80% National Grid (NG.) 1,179.00p 2.52% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,878.00p 2.46% Centrica (CNA) 176.35p 2.38%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 81.80p -6.41% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 131.50p -3.06% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,336.00p -1.99% Entain (ENT) 768.80p -1.16% Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 44.65p -1.00% Experian (EXPN) 3,395.00p -0.93% Schroders (SDR) 415.60p -0.91% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,290.00p -0.88% Croda International (CRDA) 2,707.00p -0.77% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 580.60p -0.72%