London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 6,531.86 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.
Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group rallied after FTSE 250 peer Bellway hailed record first-half completions amid “robust” demand. Bellway said that during the half, completions rose 6.3% to 5,656, while “strong” underlying demand saw the private reservation rate rise to 156 per week from 151 in the same period a year ago.
Online supermarket Ocado was in the red despite reporting a 68.8% rise in full-year core earnings.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said “it appears investors have potentially been put off by Ocado’s planned £700m in capital expenditure, and a subdued outlook for UK retail growth in the coming 12 months”.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “While the combination of a grocer benefiting from the current pandemic and a high tech business gives investors two bites at the cherry, the stratospheric rise of the share price may have prompted some to take profits, with the market consensus of the shares having recently slipped to a sell as new developments are awaited.”
Dollar-earner Experian was the biggest loser on the index as sterling gained ground against the greenback.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 165.05p 2.04%
CRH (CRH) 3,186.00p 1.76%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,376.00p 1.63%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,253.00p 1.62%
BAE Systems (BA.) 479.90p 1.54%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,737.00p 1.54%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,386.20p 1.51%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,481.00p 1.51%
Prudential (PRU) 1,259.00p 1.45%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,323.00p 1.36%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Experian (EXPN) 2,535.00p -3.24%
Evraz (EVR) 508.60p -2.86%
Kingfisher (KGF) 271.40p -2.02%
Relx plc (REL) 1,793.00p -2.00%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,698.00p -1.75%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,642.00p -1.71%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 174.00p -1.67%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 359.90p -1.61%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,327.00p -1.57%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 816.00p -1.50%
