FTSE 100 movers: Banks and housebuilders rally; utilities unloved

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,160.85 in afternoon trade on Wednesday as investors eyed the upcoming 'indicative votes' on Brexit in parliament.

Utilities were among the biggest fallers, with Severn Trent, Centrica and National Grid all weaker.

Intertek slipped as RBC Capital Markets slashed its price target on the underperform-rated stock to 4,000p from 4,350p. It said the shares continue to look expensive on 23x FY19E price-to-earnings.

"We are more cautious than the market on top-line growth (due to international trade concerns) and on margin expansion (given price and cost pressures). We also think management needs to be more disciplined with regards to M&A and its capex spend," it said.

On the upside, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon were both higher after FTSE 250 peer Bellway posted an 8.7% rise in interim profit and hiked its dividend as it said demand was propped up by the government's Help to Buy scheme and affordable mortgage finance.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "A decade of growth in volumes is a track record not to be sniffed at for a housebuilder and that’s what Bellway has delivered as today’s first half results show.

"However, volume growth is one thing and profitability is another. The company is beginning to experience some pressure on margins in a softening housing market - down from 22.5% to 21.5%. Guidance is for this pressure to continue in the second half and the cancellation rate is also creeping up too as Brexit uncertainty hits consumer confidence.

"At the very least Bellway’s management has been upfront about the likelihood of a narrowing of its margin performance for some time, and the combination of lower selling prices and rising construction costs is one all of its peer group has to face."

Banks were on the rise, with Barclays, RBS and Lloyds all higher. Barclays was also in focus as it announced the departure of Tim Throsby, the chief executive of Barclays International and Barclays Plc, amid a series of leadership changes.

It also said that Ashok Vaswani, the current CEO of Barclays UK, will take on the newly-created role of global head of consumer banking & payment, reporting to Group CEO Jes Staley.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,007.00p 2.82%
Barclays (BARC) 156.80p 2.28%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,148.50p 2.27%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 179.05p 2.26%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 252.68p 2.14%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 6,050.00p 2.02%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 62.61p 1.87%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,200.00p 1.85%
BAE Systems (BA.) 461.80p 1.72%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 330.90p 1.69%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

NMC Health (NMC) 2,210.00p -6.44%
Fresnillo (FRES) 853.80p -2.09%
Diageo (DGE) 3,097.00p -1.05%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,022.00p -1.03%
Centrica (CNA) 117.11p -0.88%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 933.80p -0.83%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,497.50p -0.73%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,746.00p -0.71%
National Grid (NG.) 882.90p -0.71%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,913.00p -0.67%