Housebuilders traded lower amid fears over the outlook for the sector.
Deutsche Bank Research warned clients of a steep drop in sales this year, alongside weaker house prices.
The broker downgraded Barratt Developments – the UK’s biggest housebuilder – and Taylor Wimpey to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, and Persimmon to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’.
There were also downgrades for the mid-cap housebuilders Crest Nicholson and Redrow.
Setback: Deutsche Bank downgraded Barratt Developments – the UK’s biggest housebuilder – and Taylor Wimpey to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, and Persimmon to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’
It will come as a setback for the industry, given Barratt, Bellway and Redrow last week all pointed towards early signs of a recovery in the housing market.
Shares in Persimmon fell 3.7 per cent, or 55p, to 1436p, Taylor Wimpey dropped 3 per cent or 3.65p to 118.1p and Barratt Developments sank 2.7 per cent, or 12.5p, to 459.9p.
Crest Nicholson shed 5.3 per cent, or 13p, or 234.2p, Redrow slipped 3.8 per cent, or 20p, to 510.5p and Bellway lost 4.1 per cent, or 91p, to 2149p.
The FTSE 100 closed at a record high for the third time this month, with London’s blue-chip benchmark up 0.8 per cent, or 65.15 points, to 7947.6.
That beat its previous record closes of 7911 and 7901 points. The gains came ahead of key inflation data out of the US and UK this week.
London’s second tier also ended the day in positive territory, with the FTSE 250 gaining 0.5 per cent, or 94.45 points, to 20124.52.
Spirax-Sarco topped the risers on the blue-chip index, up 3.2 per cent, or 375p, to 11995p, after HSBC raised its target price to 12000p from 10330p.
There were also gains for the mining technology group Weir (up 1.9 per cent, or 34p, to 1834p) and engineer Smiths Group (up 1.7 per cent, or 29p, to 1778.5p) after Goldman Sachs initiated its coverage with a ‘buy’ rating on the stocks.
Stock Watch – Brickability
Brickability, the British construction materials distributor, expects its profit for the year to beat market forecasts following strong demand for bricks and roofing.
The group is set to post a profit of at least £47million for the year to March.
This would be above market expectations of £44.7million.
The second half of its financial year delivered a ‘strong performance across all of its business divisions’.
Shares, which floated at 65p in August 2019, rose 8.9 per cent, or 6.1p, to 74.8p.
The broker set a target price of 2220p for Weir alongside 2250p for Smiths Group.
Vodafone gained 2.1 per cent, or 1.9p, to 94p a day after The Mail on Sunday reported that the telecoms giant’s dividend could be at risk due to rampant inflation and higher costs.
Delivery and logistics group DX was thrust into the spotlight after a newspaper report over the weekend claimed that three employees tried to get private corporate information from a rival.
The employees all used to work at Tuffnells, where they offered a worker there a weekly payment of £50 in exchange for customer service receipts.
Tuffnells has filed a legal claim against DX, which in response said it ‘intends to defend its position robustly’. DX shares fell 5.9 per cent, or 1.75p, to 28p.
Banking stocks were a mixed bag ahead of this week’s results, with the UK’s biggest lenders set to report bumper profits.
Shares in Barclays inched up 0.3 per cent, or 0.6p, to 186.32p, Standard Chartered added 0.05 per cent, or 0.4p, to 729.8p, Natwest slipped 0.2 per cent, or 0.7p, to 303.8p and Lloyds sank 0.4 per cent, or 0.22p, to 53.07p.
Gambling software group Playtech agreed a £7.42million (€8.4million) investment in the Canadian-based online casino and sportsbook gaming platform NorthStar.
As part of the pair’s strategic partnership, Playtech will take a 16 per cent stake in NorthStar. Shares grew 0.3 per cent, or 1.5p, to 567p.
Restructuring firm FRP Advisory warned demand for its services will increase after businesses faced rising inflation and higher borrowing costs in the nine months to January.
The group expects its profit and revenue for the year to April to be in line with expectations.
Shares plunged 5.8 per cent, or 8.5p, to 137.5p yesterday.
Storage provider Lok’nStore sank 3.4 per cent, or 33p, to 930p after it warned of rising costs.
The slump came even though its revenue rose 10.3 per cent in the six months to January.
