FTSE 100 movers: Games Workshop jumps on guidance upgrade; utilities fall
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,778.16 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Games Workshop surged to the top of the index as it lifted guidance for the full year.
In a typically short statement, the company said trading in January and February had been ahead of expectations, with strong trading across both the core business and licensing. No further details were given.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "In a world full of uncertainty around economics, politics and consumer and business confidence, it's refreshing to see a company be able to get on with the job of making money. Games Workshop is showing resilience in the face of a difficult market backdrop and it's impressive how it has prospered this year.
"Games Workshop's recent promotion to the FTSE 100 puts pressure on management to keep delivering good news. They will want to show the world that its inclusion in the premium UK index is not a brief visit and that the business has what it takes to stay in the top league.
"The licencing of its intellectual property is being done under a watchful eye and only the most promising ideas are getting the green light. This quality control might mean it misses out on some potential income, but Games Workshop wants to uphold its brand values and ensure that its reputation isn't tarnished by going down the Disney route of milking assets until they are bone dry."
Barclays rose sharply after an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'neutral' by BNP Paribas Exane.
Severn Trent slumped even as it guided towards a net operational outperformance for over the back half of the decade.
Utilities in general were on the back foot, with National Grid, United Utilities and SSE all lower.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,805.00p 5.56%
easyJet (EZJ) 503.20p 5.23%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,258.50p 5.18%
Schroders (SDR) 383.20p 4.93%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 14,430.00p 4.87%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,638.00p 4.69%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 265.80p 4.40%
Barclays (BARC) 304.80p 4.24%
Fresnillo (FRES) 813.00p 4.23%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 668.20p 4.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,410.00p -4.06%
National Grid (NG.) 933.20p -3.99%
Haleon (HLN) 402.40p -3.01%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,225.00p -2.97%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 948.80p -2.81%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,068.00p -2.79%
SSE (SSE) 1,469.50p -2.39%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,742.00p -2.18%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 541.00p -2.08%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 11,395.00p -1.98%
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