FTSE 100 movers: Pharmaceutical stocks lead FTSE's rally

16th Dec 2016 14:11

(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 rose 0.11% to 7,006.73 points on Friday afternoon with pharmaceutical stocks leading the way.Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Shire and Astrazeneca rallied on a positive read-across following reports Sanofi is in advanced talks to acquire Actelion.The companies are said to be discussing a price of about $275 per Actelion share and a deal could be announced as soon as next week, Bloomberg reported.On the downside, Micro Focus International was a top faller after UBS downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 2,350p from 2,420p citing near-term risks."Notwithstanding H1's good results and a $400m planned return of value, we see the upside for the shares as limited now," the bank said.It highlighted several risks for next year. It pointed out that HPE has to execute a significant ($700m) carve-out process on its software assets to make them ready to pass on to Micro. UBS said there are risks of delays to the deal's closing, due in August 2017, and of disruption to sales execution within HPE Software before or around closing.Supermarkets were hit by the weaker pound, which makes imports of goods more expensive, with Tesco and Morrison Supermarkets on the back foot. The pound weakened against the dollar after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and struck a hawkish tone in its policy statement on Wednesday. Market MoversFTSE 100 (UKX) 7,007.82 0.13%FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,802.40 0.19%techMARK (TASX) 3,341.83 0.57%FTSE 100 - RisersOld Mutual (OML) 197.30p 2.65%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,785.00p 2.18%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,485.00p 2.13%Shire Plc (SHP) 4,578.50p 1.68%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,560.00p 1.65%Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,585.00p 1.24%easyJet (EZJ) 1,019.00p 1.19%BP (BP.) 484.75p 1.09%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,446.50p 1.06%Vodafone Group (VOD) 200.35p 1.01%FTSE 100 - FallersMicro Focus International (MCRO) 2,156.00p -3.53%Dixons Carphone (DC.) 337.40p -2.46%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 455.70p -1.77%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 152.90p -1.55%Antofagasta (ANTO) 673.00p -1.54%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,097.00p -1.53%Tesco (TSCO) 202.00p -1.42%Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,474.50p -1.22%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 226.10p -1.18%Whitbread (WTB) 3,607.00p -1.15%