Housebuilder helps Footsie gain ground

Market report Emma Newlands

London’s top-flight index edged higher as investors snapped up housebuilding stocks in response to solid results from Persimmon.

The FTSE 100 Index was 10.37 points higher at 7,367.6, with the Charles Church owner sitting among the biggest risers after racking up another set of rising sales.

Shares in Persimmon rose 54p to 2,345p, with half-year revenues growing 12 per cent to £1.66 billion and the average selling price of its homes climbing 3.5 per cent to around £213,000.

Shares in Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey lifted 15.5p to 582p and 2.9p to 178.7p, as positive sentiment spread across the sector.

On the currency markets, sterling was marginally down against the US dollar at $1.291 following a disappointing update on economic growth.

Activity in the UK’S services sector recorded a deeper-than-expected fall last month, sealing a “triple-whammy” of lacklustre results from the UK economy.

However, sterling remained upbeat versus the euro, rising 0.1 per cent to €1.139.

In UK stocks, UK payments-processor Worldpay dropped 8 per cent after reaching a preliminary agreement to merge with US rival Vantiv in a deal valuing the British group at £9.1 billion, and which has muscled out rival suitor Jpmorgan Chase. Shares fell 36p to 372p after a heady rise in the previous session.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index included Tesco, up 6.4p to 173.5p, and Provident Financial, up 81p to 2,402p. The biggest fallers included Old Mutual, down 3.4p to 191.8p, and Barclays, down 2.8p to 204.2p. The cash-andcarry chain shrugged off concerns surrounding its takeover by Tesco to reveal a hotweather-fuelled surge in sales. The Aim-quoted fibre optic infrastructure provider is raising up to £200m from investors as it funds the growth of its full fibre network in the UK.