London open: FTSE gains as housebuilders, Shell rally
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 25 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, with housebuilders charging ahead after well-received results from Bellway.
At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,668.34.
Trump's trade war was rumbling on in the background. Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "At the start of this week investors had taken comfort from the fact that the next round of tariffs would be targeted and less broad based than feared.
"However, sentiment is fading as a lack of clarity on what to expect next week and the prospect of secondary tariffs for countries that buy oil from Venezuela add another dimension to President Trump's trade wars."
In equity markets, housebuilders got a boost after Bellway hailed a "strong" first half as it posted a 12% increase in interim underlying pre-tax profit, citing lower mortgage interest rates and an improvement in consumer confidence.
Bellway advanced, along with Persimmon, Barratt, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry and Crest Nicholson.
Segro jumped as it announced a joint venture with Pure Data Centres - owned by Oaktree - to develop a £1bn fully fitted data facility.
Shell gushed higher as the energy giant said it was targeting 4% to 5% annual sales growth in liquefied natural gas in the next five years and increased its shareholder distribution policy with a focus on share buybacks, while cutting its spending outlook.
Morgan Sindall surged as it said 2025 profits were set to be "slightly" ahead of market consensus following a stronger-than-expected performance from the Fit Out division.
Online electricals retailer AO World also gained as it hailed a "strong" performance and said that full-year profit was set to be around the top end of its previously upgraded guidance range.
On the downside, Kingfisher slumped after the DIY retail group forecast small earnings growth this year at best and warned of the impact of budgetary measures in the UK and France on consumer sentiment and costs in the short term.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,668.34 0.35%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,992.74 0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 4,708.22 0.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
SEGRO (SGRO) 704.40p 1.94%
Shell (SHEL) 2,776.50p 1.89%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 430.40p 1.77%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,211.50p 1.59%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,014.00p 1.41%
GSK (GSK) 1,504.00p 1.28%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,171.00p 1.21%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 115.10p 1.19%
M&G (MNG) 220.40p 1.15%
SSE (SSE) 1,555.00p 1.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 247.00p -11.69%
Diploma (DPLM) 3,918.00p -1.61%
Halma (HLMA) 2,611.00p -1.29%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,381.00p -1.06%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,965.00p -1.02%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,488.00p -0.98%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 343.90p -0.95%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 878.80p -0.88%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,660.00p -0.82%
Experian (EXPN) 3,601.00p -0.61%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 3,320.00p 9.21%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 75.90p 4.33%
Bellway (BWY) 2,482.00p 2.90%
Vistry Group (VTY) 659.00p 2.89%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 170.40p 2.84%
THG (THG) 34.94p 2.76%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 140.00p 2.19%
Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 126.10p 2.19%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 199.60p 2.12%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 633.00p 2.10%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
IP Group (IPO) 42.65p -3.62%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,354.00p -3.35%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 497.70p -2.89%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 252.50p -2.88%
Victrex plc (VCT) 907.00p -1.95%
Mobico Group (MCG) 61.60p -1.83%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 63.40p -1.55%
Me Group International (MEGP) 185.00p -1.28%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 488.50p -1.01%
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 72.10p -0.96%
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