London midday: Housebuilders hoist FTSE ahead of Autumn Statement

London's FTSE 100 was given a boost by housebuilding shares on Wednesday ahead of Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, which is expected to reveal an investment of just under £7bn in the sector.

Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Berkeley Group, Bellway and Bovis Homes were the biggest risers on the blue chip index just before midday.

"Shares in housebuilders have burst out of the starting blocks in early trading this morning, following the news that George Osborne is set to unveil a huge housebuilding programme. These companies stand to be prime beneficiaries of the government’s plans to address the housing crisis," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Developers are set to benefit as the UK helps funding the building of the hundreds of thousands of starter homes.

Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders on Wednesday showed first-time buyer loans in London rose 17% quarter-on-quarter 12,800 in the third quarter, although that marked a 1% decline on a year-on-year basis. First-time buyers borrowed £3.4bn, 24% more than in the previous quarter and 4% more than in the corresponding period a year ago, while the number of home-movers loans in London rose 32% quarter-on-quarter and 5% year-on-year to 10,800.

Aside from the housing crisis, Osborne is expected to discuss changes to tax credits, pensions and motoring. He is also tipped to announce deep cuts to public sector spending when he kicks off the Autumn Statement at 1230 GMT.

In afternoon trade, a batch of US economic data will be released ahead of a trading holiday on Thursday for Thanksgiving. Reports include figures on durable goods orders, personal consumption expenditure, initial jobless claims, weekly mortgage applications, the house price index, services, new home sales and the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index.

In company news, Daily Mail and General Trust plunged as the newspaper owner warned that challenging market conditions in the UK print advertising market and those facing Euromoney in the investment banking and commodities sectors are likely to have an adverse impact on the new financial year. The announcement came as the firm reported a 4% drop in adjusted pre-tax profit to £281m for the full-year.

Betfair Group advanced after saying first half revenue and profit are ahead of expectations.

BG Group was in positive territory as it began commercial operations from the second train at its Queensland Curtis liquefied natural gas operation.

Thomas Cook jumped as it reported its first annual profit after tax since 2010 and said it had got off to a positive start to the next year as well.

UK Mail slumped as its chief executive for the last decade, Guy Buswell, was given the axe as the company struggles with the transition to its new high-tech parcel sorting hub.

Mining companies snapped Tuesday's rally, including Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta, as metal prices declined including copper (-1.38%), silver (-0.62%), and gold (-0.12%) on the Comex and HSBC analysts tore into Anglo.

Shire retreated after Reuters reported that the drug maker was preparing to make a new bid for US biotech firm Baxalta.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,333.34 0.89%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,103.90 0.91%
techMARK (TASX) 3,184.04 0.68%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,895.00p 6.34%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 189.20p 6.23%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 591.00p 5.63%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,195.00p 5.10%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 609.50p 3.66%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,752.00p 3.26%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,439.00p 3.09%
Schroders (SDR) 2,976.00p 2.69%
Sage Group (SGE) 572.50p 2.51%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,106.00p 2.41%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 417.90p -7.54%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,503.00p -3.08%
Glencore (GLEN) 91.81p -2.31%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 864.00p -1.35%
Royal Mail (RMG) 481.00p -1.31%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,245.50p -1.25%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 947.00p -1.15%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,051.00p -0.47%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 301.00p -0.43%
Fresnillo (FRES) 711.50p -0.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 107.20p 9.00%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 91.15p 7.74%
Bellway (BWY) 2,556.00p 6.28%
NMC Health (NMC) 860.50p 6.23%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 520.50p 5.15%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 918.00p 4.68%
RPC Group (RPC) 707.50p 3.89%
Serco Group (SRP) 106.70p 3.79%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 102.50p 3.43%
Betfair Group (BET) 3,597.00p 3.33%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

BBA Aviation (BBA) 172.60p -3.25%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 333.70p -3.08%
Indivior (INDV) 189.00p -3.08%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 357.90p -2.77%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 373.20p -2.64%
Hays (HAS) 138.60p -2.46%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 104.00p -2.35%
Michael Page International (MPI) 486.90p -2.03%
Drax Group (DRX) 239.80p -1.56%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,723.00p -1.54%