DAVID MYRDDIN-EVANS
Blue-chip shares finished up on Monday, led by housebuilders, as investors were encouraged that today’s Budget will include measures to boost the housing sector. Reports suggested the Government would build hundreds of thousands of new homes and cut stamp duty for first-time buyers. Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon were all in the black as the FTSE 100 closed the day at 7,389, up 0.12%.
In early trade on Tuesday shares were trending as the ONS released data showing that public sector borrowing increased to £8bn in October, higher than forecast and up £500m from a year earlier. It said increased costs linked to Brexit were a factor.
The FTSE 100 was down overall last week. On Friday, United Utilities fell 4.4% to a three-year low amid worries about the water company’s inflationlinked debt and regulation of the sector. Severn Trent also lost 2.4% while Centrica was off 1.6%.
But Sky jumped 4.1% following reports that both Comcast and Verizon had approached 21st Century Fox, as the latter’s bid for full control of Sky remained in regulatory limbo.
Thursday saw pharmaceutical company Shire up 6% while mid-cap Hikma climbed 6.5%. But GKN fell 4.8% after the engineering group parted company with chief executivedesignate Kevin Cummings and wrote off up to £130m of inventories at its US aerospace division.
The blue-chip index was off 0.6% last Wednesday, dragged down by mining and energy shares as crude oil and base metal prices fell. But silver and gold miner Fresnillo rose 3.3% on positive broker comment.
Outside the blue chips, TalkTalk closed down 6% after a profit warning. Housebuilder Crest Nicholson was off 4% amid weakness in central London property prices.
Tesco jumped 6.2% last Tuesday after gaining provisional approval for its takeover of Booker.
Vodafone also climbed 5.1% after the telecoms group raised its forecast of annual profits.