Housebuilders going up

More than £600m was added to the value of Britain’s listed housebuilders as talk of a stamp duty cut sent shares surging.

Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and others rose sharply amid speculation that Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, is to slash the levy on property sales as part of Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plans to boost the economy.

Persimmon gained 4.4pc, Barratt jumped 3.8pc and Taylor Wimpey rose by 2.7pc. Vistry, Bellway, Berkeley and Redrow also saw their stock prices surge.