London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,092.47in afternoon trade on Wednesday as sterling gained after data showed UK inflation hit a three-year high in June.
Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown was the top gainer, closely followed by health and safety technology group Halma.
Banks and mining stocks were the top gainers, with NatWest, Lloyds, Barclays, Anglo American and Glencore all higher.
Housebuilder Barratt Developments rallied after it lifted annual profit forecasts, driven by strong demand.
The company said pre-tax profit after adjusted items of about £107m was expected to be at the top end of a range of £761m – £812m while adjusted profit was forecast to be marginally higher than expectations of £860m – £899m.
William Ryder, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Like its peers, Barratt is doing well out of a strong housing market. House prices are rising and completions have nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, which will both be good news to shareholders.
“However, Barratt is starting to see build costs rise, which is a common problem in the sector. Cost inflation ran at about 2% for the full year but is currently running at 3-4%. So far, it looks like house price increases are more than swallowing the extra expenses, but if house prices start to cool margins may come under pressure.”
FTSE 100 – Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 3,021.50p 2.58%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 206.10p 2.33%
Glencore (GLEN) 320.30p 2.09%
Evraz (EVR) 615.60p 1.85%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 708.40p 1.66%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 47.44p 1.48%
Barclays (BARC) 172.10p 1.24%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,463.00p 1.11%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,431.40p 0.99%
BP (BP.) 308.35p 0.80%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,625.00p -3.10%
Halma (HLMA) 2,785.00p -2.28%
Experian (EXPN) 2,965.00p -1.92%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,668.00p -1.69%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,665.00p -1.59%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 676.80p -1.57%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 117.52p -1.51%
National Grid (NG.) 928.50p -1.50%
British Land Company (BLND) 504.00p -1.49%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,122.00p -1.45%
