American strike on Syria prompts flight to safe haven of gold

INVESTORS nervous at what the US strikes on Syria could mean caused a flight to the safe haven of gold yesterday. Randgold Resources was the biggest beneficiary of Donald Trump’s decision to launch military action, with its shares shooting to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard, rising 305p or 4.3pc to £74.10 as security was sought in the precious metal, itself 1.1pc higher at $1,266 an ounce as the London market shut. Mid-cap gold miners

Centamin and Polymetal also got a push, adding 3.1pc to 184.8p and 2.8pc to £10.64 respectively.

Back among the bluechips, Fresnillo, the world’s largest producer of silver, was another big gainer, adding 30p to £16.24.

Other stocks on the rise following the missile strikes included defence group

BAE Systems, gaining 15p to 649p, and mid-cap peers

Cobham, 4.2p higher at 141.6p in a rare boost for the struggling business, and

Meggitt, 3.3p better at 445.5p. Energy companies

Royal Dutch Shell and BP both climbed, 38p and 5.95p respectively, to £22.46 and 470.4p.

Oil prices spiked 2pc in early trading as traders reacted to news of the military action and the possibility of a squeeze on supplies. However, oil could not hold on to the gain as a weak US jobs report dented confidence in the strength of the American economy.

On the other side of equation were the airlines, who traditionally take a hit when shooting starts.

EasyJet was the worst performer in the FTSE 100, diving 17p to £10.43. British Airways parent IAG retreated 2p to 523.5p.

Despite negative sentiment at the start of the day, the FTSE 100 ended in positive territory, 0.63pc higher at 7,349.37, with the

FTSE 250 0.54pc better at 19,229.69.

There were some stand-out performances from supermarkets after UBS took a look at some of the sector’s main players. The broker upped its target price on Sainsbury’s by 30p to 360p with a prediction it would post surprise like-for-like growth this year. Also in focus was

Morrisons, saying that after five quarters of growth it was “fairly” priced, but increased its target from 207p to 240p with a “neutral” rating. HSBC also took a look at

Tesco ahead of next week’s results, saying the retailing giant was “underestimated by investors. This has not mattered too much to Tesco until recently, but with the proposed merger with Booker it must convince Booker shareholders that swapping shares in the cashgenerative Booker for shares in Tesco, whose recovery is still unproven, is a good deal.” Still, the broker held its target at 260p and “buy” rating.

Sainsbury’s rose 7.4p to 261.8p, Tesco put on 4.5p to 189.7p and Morrisons was 3.5p better at 234.2p.

However, feeling the wrath of UBS was Ocado, the troubled online grocer. Analyst Daniel Ekstein’s note warned that “the market is moving against Ocado”, with penetration rates beginning to plateau, making it tough for the FTSE 250 business to hit City pundits’ forecasts, as its relatively weak purchasing power “suggests it will struggle to maintain gross margin and price competitiveness”. He cut his rating from “buy” to “sell” and more than halved the price target to 200p.

Investors took flight and Ocado was the faller on the mid-cap markets, dropping 5.4pc, or 13.5p, to 238.5p.