LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London\'s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,412.86 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, gaining some ground as housebuilders and banks rallied.
Housebuilders and banking stocks were among the best performers, with Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Lloyds, Standard Chartered and RBS all higher as investors welcomed Theresa May\'s softened stance on Brexit.

British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group racked up strong gains even as Morgan Stanley retained its \'underweight\' stance on the stock as it highlighted higher capacity growth, exposure to Atlantic markets and labour uncertainty at BA.

On the downside, luxury brand Burberry saw its shares drop as Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded its rating to \'underperform\' from \'neutral\' and JPMorgan cuts its full-year core profit estimate for the group by 6%, arguing that it\'s highly exposed to Brexit-related sterling volatility.

BofA ML, which maintained its 1,800p price target on Burberry, said: \"Burberry has re-rated 4x price-to-earnings points in 2019, which we see as unjustified given limited visibility over timing & trajectory of potential brand turnaround.\"

Tobacco stocks were also on the back foot as data from Nielsen showed that US cigarette sales weakened further in March, with Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco both trading lower.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 2,226.92p 3.00%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.23p 2.89%
Kingfisher (KGF) 247.20p 2.79%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 524.20p 2.78%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 649.80p 2.72%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.05p 2.68%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,304.00p 2.67%
BAE Systems (BA.) 496.30p 2.52%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 254.50p 2.50%
CRH (CRH) 2,479.00p 2.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,549.50p -2.99%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,922.00p -2.63%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,103.00p -2.38%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 6,134.00p -2.09%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,597.00p -1.55%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,577.00p -1.50%
Diageo (DGE) 3,096.50p -1.42%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 192.10p -1.21%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,413.00p -1.07%
Whitbread (WTB) 5,050.00p -0.98%

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