Sector movers: Home construction and Utilities pace gains as Sunak chosen PM

Homebuilders' and Utility companies' shares jumped at the start of the week after it was announced that former Chancellor Rishi Sunak had come out on top in the Tory party's leadership contest and would take on the mantle of the country's next Prime Minister.

Shortly after the close of trading, the pound was drifting lower by 0.12% to 1.1289, ironically likely in part due to another sharp drop in longer-term Gilt yields.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Gilt was falling by 31 basis points to 3.74% and fast approaching its pre-mini budget levels.

While some of the finer details of the transition from one PM to the next had yet to be worked out, Sunak had ruled out early elections.

So too, the current Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and the Treasury were still working towards the 31 October deadline for announcing the government's medium-term fiscal policy.

Going the other way, Prudential weighed on the life insurance sector in the wake of what one analyst in the City termed the "negative" developments at the Chinese Communist Party's 20th Congress.

"With political ties taking increasing precedence over technocratic experience, the quality of policy implementation could decline," said Capital Economics's senior China economist, Julian Evans Pritchard.

"And the dismantling of remaining checks and balances will make it harder for the Party to shift course if Xi Jinping’s policy agenda falters."

Shares in the Industrials Metals and Mining space were also on the back foot following the release of a mixed bag of macroeconomic data.

Third quarter Chinese gross domestic product printed at up by 3.9% year-on-year (consensus: 3.3%) and industrial production figures for September came in well ahead of economists' forecasts.

The same unfortunately could not be said of readings for fixed asset investment and retail sales, also covering the month of September, on the other hand.

Top performing sectors so far today

Electricity 9,170.65 +3.91%

Household Goods & Home Construction 9,264.39 +3.44%

Industrial Engineering 13,286.18 +2.69%

Gas, Water & Multiutilities 5,104.60 +2.43%

Media 8,769.96 +2.22%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Life Insurance 5,783.99 -3.28%

Automobiles & Parts 1,110.73 -2.70%

Industrial Metals & Mining 6,687.89 -0.82%

Personal Goods 28,536.78 -0.70%

Precious Metals and Mining 9,327.98 -0.52%