Sector movers: Homebuilders, Electricity and Big Pharma pace gains

Homebuilders and defensive segments of the stock market paced gains at the end of the week.

Boosting the former were positive comments out of analysts at Berenberg.

In particular, they judged that the worst-case scenarios for house price deflation had been averted.

They also noted the relative improvement over recent months in sales rates, which supported pricing, and predicted modest build cost deflation for 2024.

Affordability had also improved with mortgage payments having fallen to approximately 40% of a typical new homebuyers' earnings, they estimated.

Electricity and Big Pharma gained alongside.

Going the other way, shares of Diageo dragged on the Beverages space following a downgrade out of Jefferies from 'buy' to 'hold'.

Top performing sectors so far today

Retailers 3,785.70 +2.08%

Household Goods & Home Construction 11,894.71 +1.54%

Electricity 11,420.46 +1.29%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 22,344.48 +1.24%

Oil, Gas and Coal 8,352.46 +1.22%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Beverages 27,367.42 -2.48%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,225.58 -1.26%

Real Estate Investment & Services 2,264.72 -0.85%

Personal Goods 35,176.73 -0.77%

Travel & Leisure 7,651.64 -0.63%