Portfolio

Sector movers: Fed talks lift gold higher, Persimmon hits housebuilders

By Oliver Haill

Date: Thursday 21 Mar 2019

Sector movers: Fed talks lift gold higher, Persimmon hits housebuilders

(Sharecast News) - Metals and miners fuelled the gains on Thursday, while electronic engineers, housebuilders and banks were notably in the red.
After a dovish statement from the US Federal Reserve, gold prices hit a three-week high to boost precious metals miners.

Fresnillo topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard and Centamin sat atop the 250, followed closely by Acacia and Hochschild.

Industrial miners were also standout gainers, with Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Glencore and BHP all higher as copper prices rallied.

Going the other way, RBS, Lloyds and Barclays were among those hit by the Fed's softer rate talk.

A disappointing update from engineering company Renishaw dragged on the electronic & electrical equipment sector.

Housebuilders were almost all in the red after Persimmon made a move that analysts expect to hit sector margins.

On the back of criticism about its build quality and a warning that it could be stripped of its right to claim cash from the government under the Help to Buy scheme, Persimmon is introducing a retention payment. The FTSE 100 group will write into its standard contract that 1.5% of the total home value - equating to around 6% of the build fabric costs - could be withheld by the buyer's solicitor until any faults identified at the point of key release are resolved.

Analysts pointed out that this is a bearish development for the sector that will put pressure on working cash flows and margins.

Shore Capital analyst Robin Hardy said: "The danger for Persimmon is, we believe, that this will allow a far greater number of buyers to come forwards and demand that their new home is put right and this is likely to have an impact on margins.

"Additional costs will need to be incurred post-sale (this would likely to be the case in the early days of the scheme) but longer term more money will need to be spent on core construction and inspection costs."

Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley, Bovis, Countryside, Galliford Try and Redrow were all down at least 1% and most more than 2%, with Taylor Wimpey the least affected. Crest Nicholson was down the most as its shares went ex-dividend.

Top performing sectors so far today

Mining +1.74%

Industrial Metals & Mining +1.57%

Personal Goods +1.46%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology +1.44%

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution +1.37%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Leisure Goods -1.17%

Electronic & Electrical Equipment -1.13%

Real Estate Investment & Services -0.96%

Automobiles & Parts -0.89%

Banks -0.78%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,328.18 0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,294.25 -0.49%
techMARK (TASX) 3,560.47 -0.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,718.50p 4.31%
Fresnillo (FRES) 834.20p 4.20%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,445.00p 2.38%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,553.40p 1.89%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 976.20p 1.88%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,030.00p 1.85%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,800.20p 1.84%
Experian (EXPN) 2,071.21p 1.83%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,280.50p 1.82%
Evraz (EVR) 609.40p 1.80%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 248.40p -6.26%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 674.99p -3.57%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.20p -2.84%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 4,590.00p -2.57%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,188.50p -2.10%
Barclays (BARC) 161.00p -2.09%
SEGRO (SGRO) 671.20p -1.81%
WPP (WPP) 852.80p -1.32%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 530.40p -1.30%
Kingfisher (KGF) 226.80p -1.26%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 206.10p 4.62%
Hunting (HTG) 631.50p 4.55%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 201.60p 3.81%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 92.95p 3.65%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 508.20p 2.60%
Aggreko (AGK) 769.80p 2.45%
Softcat (SCT) 863.00p 2.25%
Marshalls (MSLH) 603.00p 1.94%
Rank Group (RNK) 160.20p 1.91%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 721.40p 1.61%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Renishaw (RSW) 3,756.00p -10.57%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,578.00p -7.72%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 360.60p -7.25%
Kier Group (KIE) 399.19p -7.03%
Just Group (JUST) 68.50p -5.91%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 347.40p -5.83%
Indivior (INDV) 107.15p -5.55%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 518.00p -5.47%
Hammerson (HMSO) 351.10p -4.70%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 186.52p -4.35%

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