FTSE 100 shares round-up: Rolls-Royce, Barclays, Games Workshop
Stock markets remain volatile as investors digest the beginning of a US trade war, but things are looking good for this trio today. City writer Graeme Evans explains why.
5th March 2025 14:06
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
A session for the high-flyers of the FTSE 100 index today saw Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) shares top £8, Barclays (LSE:BARC) return to form and Games Workshop Group (LSE:GAW) stage yet another advance.
Other strong performers came from the commodities sector as a nine-month high copper price due to the threat of tariffs lifted demand for Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO), Anglo American (LSE:AAL) and Glencore (LSE:GLEN).
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China’s unchanged growth target of 5% for 2025 also boosted sentiment around the miners, as well as for other Asia-focused stocks such as Prudential (LSE:PRU) and Diageo (LSE:DGE).
The gains helped the FTSE 100 index recover from yesterday’s worst session since October, although by nowhere near the FTSE 250 index and leading benchmarks in Europe.
One factor in the top flight’s underperformance was the pound’s advance to a four-month high above $1.28, which hindered the progress of leading overseas earning stocks.
Defensive plays including British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS) and National Grid (LSE:NG.) were also out of favour as risk appetite returned on hopes that President Trump may be about to soften his stance on Canada and Mexico tariffs.
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The speculation helped lift US futures trading after the S&P 500 index last night completed the unwinding of all its post-election gains by falling another 1.2%.
The steadier US sentiment particularly benefited Barclays, given that a large slice of its revenue comes from North America through investment banking and credit card operations.
Having almost doubled in value in the past year, the shares fell sharply from Monday afternoon’s 314p to 292.4p by last night’s close. They resumed their rally today as the best-performing banking stock in the FTSE 100 index, lifting 14.5p to 307p.
There was a similar return to form by British Airways and Iberia owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) after a bout of profit taking in the wake of last week’s results and shares buyback.
The carrier, which has benefited from strong transatlantic demand, peaked at 357p on Friday before falling back to 321.2p as global economic jitters took hold. It recovered to 333p earlier in today’s session, alongside a gain of 19.4p to 497.6p for easyJet (LSE:EZJ).
Early dealings also saw Rolls-Royce shares burst through the £8 threshold for the first time. That compares with 631p before last week’s forecast-beating results, which included new robust mid-term guidance and a surprise £1 billion buyback of shares.
The stock peaked at 816p before settling at 801p, a rise of 14.8p.
Games Workshop shares also continued to set new records after a surprise update containing 50 words confirmed the Warhammer hobby remains as popular as ever.
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Broker Peel Hunt upped its profit forecast for the year to 1 June by 9% after the business lifted guidance on the back of more strong trading so far in the 2025 calendar year.
In January, the company’s first set of results as a FTSE 100-listed stock beat City expectations with a rise in half-year profit by a third to £126.8 million. It also paid a dividend of 155p a share on 28 February, taking the year-to-date total to 420p versus 315p last year.
Interest in the stock has been fuelled by a licensing deal with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) for the adaption of the Warhammer 40,000 universe into films and TV series.
The shares peaked at 14,970p this morning before settling 810p higher at 14,570p, a rise of 55% in the past year.
Peel Hunt increased its price target from 14,400p to 15,000p as it highlighted strong momentum in the business across both core operations and in royalties.
It added: “We are not changing our longer-term forecasts at this stage. This reflects the additional employment costs that are coming through in the UK, as well as the potential for tariffs.”
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