Sector movers: Oil engineers and defence down, housebuilders up
Oil engineers and construction companies led the downside as stock markets endured another down day, while the house building and real estate sectors led the upside on Brexit hopes.
Oil engineers were being sold on the back of a warning from the world's largest oilfield services provider, Schlumberger, that its fourth-quarter North America revenues were likely to drop by 15% sequentially due to steeper-than-expected price declines in the fracking market. Wood Group was down more than 4% and Hunting 3%, while Weir and Petrofac were also in the red.
The construction sector was mixed, led by Kier, which was inked in for a demotion from the FTSE 250 after Friday's shock rights issue capped a dire few years for its shares.
Defence companies were down again after President Trump's statement earlier in the week that US defence spending was "crazy" and that he would soon start talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts. "I am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race."
Housebuilders rallied, with Berkeley, Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow and Bellway topping the leaderboards as analysts suggested the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit had diminished and that a second referendum was a growing possibility.
JP Morgan Cazenove upped its odds on the possibility of Britain remaining in the EU to 40% from 20% and said it now sees just 10% chance of a no-deal Brexit and an increased chance of an orderly Brexit, at 50%.
Strategists at Barclays said that while investors are broadly positioned for the withdrawal agreement to be rejected, there is see scope for material share price moves in the housebuilding sector, particularly in the event the deal is passed (a clear positive response), or if it receives an emphatic rejection by Parliament (a clear negative response).
"Broadly speaking, if we compare the long-term prospective price-to-earnings ratios of the housebuilders with their current multiples, we conclude that the market is pricing in a 26-35% cut in earnings per share," they said.
Top performing sectors so far today
Electricity 6,733.32 +1.36%
Industrial Transportation 2,329.41 +1.20%
Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,738.43 +1.04%
Real Estate Investment & Services 2,481.69 +0.39%
Automobiles & Parts 7,764.48 +0.37%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 12,344.72 -3.46%
Leisure Goods 7,707.00 -3.44%
Construction & Materials 4,982.37 -2.92%
Aerospace and Defence 4,436.47 -2.80%
Chemicals 13,349.46 -2.35%
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,942.28 -1.15%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,308.40 -0.12%
techMARK (TASX) 3,417.94 -1.01%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Persimmon (PSN) 1,990.00p 6.76%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,429.00p 6.16%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 473.60p 5.06%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 137.25p 4.41%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,693.50p 3.15%
Royal Mail (RMG) 315.00p 2.97%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 223.00p 2.86%
British Land Company (BLND) 575.40p 2.60%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,120.00p 2.28%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,646.00p 2.22%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,669.50p -6.00%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,190.00p -5.23%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 166.85p -4.77%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,898.00p -4.09%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 628.00p -3.83%
Pearson (PSON) 928.20p -3.39%
Glencore (GLEN) 286.95p -3.38%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,038.00p -3.32%
St James's Place (STJ) 995.60p -3.15%
Experian (EXPN) 1,888.50p -3.05%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 32.24p 41.90%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 179.60p 16.78%
Redrow (RDW) 498.00p 6.46%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,704.00p 5.71%
Bellway (BWY) 2,637.00p 5.40%
Capita (CPI) 110.00p 4.76%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 429.30p 4.53%
IP Group (IPO) 121.20p 4.48%
Spectris (SXS) 2,500.00p 4.47%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 222.50p 4.46%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Indivior (INDV) 94.51p -7.44%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,357.00p -4.91%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 109.70p -4.86%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,401.00p -4.63%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,434.00p -4.47%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 646.50p -4.08%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 117.02p -4.07%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,436.00p -3.98%
Hunting (HTG) 545.00p -3.96%
Playtech (PTEC) 419.80p -3.67%