Builders fall as investors fear boom days are over

Mounting concern over the future of the British housing market sent shares in Taylor Wimpey lower yesterday despite the company announcing bullish trading figures.

the housebuilder fell 4.2pc, or 8.7p, to 200.2p amid anxiety over falling house prices, weak wage growth and the impact of Brexit on the economy.

the slide came even after the company said the uK property market has remained resilient in the face of uncertainty.

in its full-year update taylor Wimpey announced that it had built 5pc more homes in 2017, while overall average prices increased 4pc to £264,000.

Demand for new homes was helped by the government’s Help to Buy scheme.

And low interest rates and strong mortgage availability played their part.

But shares in the group fell as it disappointed investors hoping for

a repeat of Persimmon’s profit upgrade on tuesday.

the firm’s rivals were also down with Persimmon slipping 1.6pc, or 42p, to 2673p.

Barratt Developments was down 1.4pc, or 9.2p, to 634.2p and Berkeley Group dropped by 0.6pc, or 25p, to 4215p.

the FTSE 100 hit a another fresh high, finishing up 0.2pc, or 17.49 points, at 7748.51 points, which beat the record of 7731.02 that was set on tuesday. Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest gainer on the blue- chip index, thanks to an upgrade by Morgan Stanley.

the investment bank said RBS is in better shape than its peers

Lloyds and Barclays ahead of Brexit, given the strength of its mortgage business, and upgraded it to overweight.

the comments were welcomed and sent shares up 4.6pc, or 12.9p, to 293.4p.

Barclays, which the bank downgraded to equal-weight from overweight, fell 0.3pc, or 0.6p, to 201.2p, while Lloyds, which was also downgraded to equal-weight, rose 0.9pc, or 0.58p, to 68.98p.

Recruitment firm Page Group rocketed towards the top of the FtSE 250 after toasting record full-year profits.

the company said that a strong showing in its international business had helped to offset a weaker performance in the uK, where it said the conditions were slightly more challenging.

Profit jumped 13.8pc to £182.4m in its fourth quarter, up from the 8.8pc increase it experienced in the third quarter.

For the full-year, profit surged 9.9pc to £711.6m.

it said this was thanks to strong trading figures across Europe, Asia and the Americas. the company’s shares rose 9.6pc, or 45.2p, to 516p. Construction company Interserve jumped 19.5pc, or 19.45p, to 119p after announcing savings of around £40m-£50m by 2020.

Also up was Footasylum, which climbed 2.6pc, or 6.5p, to 253p after analysts at Liberum gave it a buy rating.

it said the fashion retailer, which makes footwear and clothing for people aged between 16 and 24, has an attractive digital model and a new wholesale business. Elsewhere, the advertising firm

WPP dropped 1pc, or 13p, to 1327p after announcing a deal to acquire creative agency Bomtempo, Anahory & Ralha (BAR) in Portugal.

it’s the latest acquisition by the company, which is placing a greater emphasis on growth in western Continental Europe – which includes germany, France, italy and Spain – following the Brexit vote.

BAR, founded in Lisbon in 2009, has a number of key clients including nespresso.