LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Construction stocks paced gains at the start of the week as the US Congress began going about reconcile competing tax cut package proposals which according to some analysts might result in the Trump administration's first major policy win as soon as this week.


At the weekend, Republican Senators voted 51 to 49 to reduce corporate and personal taxes over the next 10 years by roughly $1.4trn (versus $1.7trn under the House plan), with offsetting economic growth possibly limiting the cost of the measures to approximately $1.0trn thanks to higher tax revenues.

News of the deal bolstered shares in companies with a known heavy exposure to US markets, such as CRH and Ashtead.

US dollar-earners such as Carnival were also wanted, as was Tate&Lyle as the dollar strengthened.

Going the other way, more defensive areas of the market such as Electricity and Pharmaceuticals saw some selling pressure.

Top performing sectors so far today
Construction & Materials 6,328.82 +2.18%
Food Producers & Processors 8,337.68 +1.51%
Travel & Leisure 9,656.05 +1.15%
Health Care Equipment & Services 7,527.98 +1.14%
Chemicals 13,673.96 +1.13%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Forestry & Paper 18,515.96 -1.21%
Automobiles & Parts 7,084.34 -0.49%
Food & Drug Retailers 3,075.19 -0.38%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 12,139.40 -0.29%
Electricity 7,817.39 -0.21%

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