Builders pummelled by housing market jitters
housebuilders were on rocky foundations yesterday after poor mortgage data set investors’ alarm bells ringing.
industry figures from uK Finance gave the housebuilding sector a double-whammy knock – the number of mortgages approved for new homes dropped in July, while net mortgage lending hit a five-month low.
Persimmon, the uK’s largest listed housebuilder, ended the day down 1.4pc, or 35p, at 2454p.
it was closely followed by its rivals Taylor Wimpey, which slipped 1.5pc, or 2.6p, to 168.8p, and Barratt Developments, which fell 0.8pc, or 4.6p, to 541.8p.
The smaller players cemented losses too, as the FTse 250’s Crest Nicholson ( 2.6pc, or 10.2p, to
387.4p), Bovis Homes (1.6pc, or 18p, to 1122p) and McCarthy &
Stone (1.4pc, or 1.6p, to 111p) all limped lower.
but the weakening from the likes of Taylor Wimpey was not enough to pull the FTSE 100 down at the end of the week, as it closed 0.2pc, or 14.27 points higher, at 7,577.49 points. Miners propped up the blue-chip index as they benefited from a weaker us dollar, which makes commodities prices more attractive to investors.
Antofagasta racked up a 3.6pc, or 28.6p gain, to close at 833.6p, as
Glencore (3.3pc, or 10.25p, to 320.75p) and Anglo American (2.5pc, or 39p, to 1575p) followed hot on its heels.
Pharmaceuticals giant Shire also injected some life into the index, as it climbed 2pc, or 90.5p, to 4513p. investors were welcoming the us’s Food and drug Administration’s decision to approve shire’s Takhzyro drug, which is used to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema, a disease which causes swelling of the body parts and which can be fatal.
The green light was welcome news for shire’s Japanese rival
Takeda, which is set to buy the firm in a £46bn deal if competition regulators approve.
its shares also crept up by 2.1pc on the Tokyo stock exchange, as analysts at investment bank Jefferies predicted the Takhzyro drug could generate peak worldwide sales of £1.4bn.
Meanwhile, it was another day of volatility at newspaper owner
Johnston Press. on Thursday shares in the owner of The scotsman and The i rocketed 56.2pc as an unusually large number of trades occurred.
The flurry of activity prompted speculation that a new investor was hoovering up shares on the sly. The trend continued yesterday as another 1.6m shares changed hands, compared to just 1.3m in the whole of last week.
however this time the activity pushed Johnston’s shares down by 4pc, or 0.22p, to 5.23p.
sweetener maker Purecircle recovered slightly after battling through a bitter four-day decline, which wiped 25.9pc or £183m off its market value.
The company reassured observers that this was not a case of insider trading, where people who have access to secret information trade on that knowledge to make a profit.
Purecircle said: ‘ The directors are not aware of any price sensitive information about the company which has yet to be disclosed.’
its shares rose yesterday by 5pc, or 15p, to 315p. south African coal miner Bisichi
Mining’s shares steamed ahead on the back of strong half-year results. earnings were up 271.4pc to £5.2m, while profit before tax rocketed from £0.2m to £4m, lifting the company’s stock by 12.7pc, or 13p, to 115p.
it has come under fire from shareholders recently for the pay awarded to chief executive Andrew heller, who last year pocketed just under £900,000 from his job – almost 10pc of the company’s £11m stock market value.