Housebuilders help the FTSE gain for sixth day in a row

The FTSE 100 eked out a small gain on Wednesday, ending in the green for the sixth straight day as housebuilders yet again helped push the index upwards.

Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments all clustered close to the top of London’s biggest index a day after a relaxation of Government rules added close to £1 billion to the value of FTSE 350 housebuilders.

“Housebuilders are having another decent day after yesterday’s strong session which appeared to be driven by the announcement that the Government would be watering down EU environmental rules, which could help speed up the planning process for new build homes,” said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets.

The FTSE is also being helped by lower bond yields and hopes that the US Federal Reserve might pause its recent bond-raising spree next month.

By the end of the day, the index had gained 8.68 points, or 0.1%, ending the day at 7,473.67.

Stateside, the S&P 500 had gained 0.4% while the Dow Jones was up 0.2%. In Europe, the German Dax index had fallen 0.2% while France’s Cac closed down 0.1%.

The pound had risen 0.7% to 1.273 dollars shortly after European markets closed. Against the euro, it was up 0.2% to 1.165 euros.

In company news, Prudential became one of the best performers on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday after it reported a 4% improvement in adjusted operating profit.

The business presented better-than-forecast numbers for the first half of the year. The improvements on the year before were partly due to lockdowns in Asia in the first half of the previous financial year.

It meant that Prudential was only second on the FTSE to Fresnillo, which gained thanks to increases in gold and silver prices.

Shares in The Works dropped by 12.9% after the business said it had faced “sizeable challenges” over the past year and reported a nearly two-thirds drop in pre-tax profit in the 12 months to the end of April.

The hobby store said that customers were scaling back their spending.

Elsewhere, around 45% of Vistry shareholders voted against a new pay plan for its top management. Shares had already been up before the vote was announced. They ended 2.5% higher.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, up 15.6p to 586.4p, Prudential, up 20.2p to 1,005.75p, Ocado, up 15.8p to 798.2p, Rolls-Royce, up 4.1p to 217.05p, and Persimmon, up 20p to 1,059.5p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Kingfisher, down 5.6p to 231p, BT, down 1.9p to 114.15p, Hiscox, down 13p to 990p, JD Sports, down 1.8p to 143.25p, and SSE, down 20.5p to 1,630.5p.