FTSE 100 movers: Software stocks rally; Admiral hit by downgrade

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 10,366.61 in afternoon trade on Friday. Software-related stocks were on the rise, with Informa, Experian, Relx and Sage Group among the top performers.

Defence and aerospace firm Babcock was also in the black ahead of full-year results on Monday.

On the downside, Admiral was under the cosh after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the insurer to 'sector perform' from 'outperform' as it took a more cautious view ahead of first-half results in August, in the context of a good share price performance and a steady but slow recovery in UK Motor.

"We are taking a more conservative view of current volumes and margins, particularly in H1, which has a small knock-on impact to out-year forecasts," the bank said.

RBC cut its price target to 3,450p from 3,560p.

Miners were also under pressure, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Rio Tinto all lower.



FTSE 100 - Risers

Informa (INF) 875.60p 1.97% Experian (EXPN) 2,548.00p 1.55% BP (BP.) 498.10p 1.39% Relx plc (REL) 2,377.00p 1.32% Shell (SHEL) 2,996.00p 1.20% AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,282.00p 1.08% Kingfisher (KGF) 284.00p 0.85% Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,037.50p 0.77% Mondi (MNDI) 733.80p 0.66% The Sage Group (SGE) 808.00p 0.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 343.40p -4.75% Admiral Group (ADM) 3,222.00p -4.16% Fresnillo (FRES) 2,993.00p -3.91% Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,050.00p -3.09% Vodafone Group (VOD) 106.00p -2.71% Anglo American (AAL) 3,907.00p -2.28% Tesco (TSCO) 440.80p -2.23% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,446.00p -2.13% Weir Group (WEIR) 2,450.00p -2.08% Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,438.00p -2.04%