London open: Stocks nudge up as housebuilders rally

London equity markets nudged higher in early trade on Monday, with strength in the housebuilding sector helping to offset weakness in mining stocks after disappointing Chinese data.

At 0900 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,082.89.

Figures released earlier by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s export growth slowed more than expected in May. Exports rose 27.9% year-on-year in May, down from 32.3% growth the month before and coming in below consensus expectations for 32.1% growth.

Imports rose 51.1% compared to a 43.1% increase in April. This marked the fastest growth in a decade but was below expectations for a 53.5% jump.

The unadjusted trade surplus ticked up to $45.5bn in May from a revised $42.9bn in April, coming in below consensus expectations of $50.7B.

In equity markets, housebuilders were the top performers after the latest survey from Halifax showed that house prices hit another record high in May, with annual growth up 9.5%. On the month, house prices were up 1.3%.

The sector was also boosted by a note from Liberum, which upgraded Taylor Wimpey to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and said Persimmon was its large-cap “top pick”.

Elsewhere, consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser was little changed as it agreed to sell its baby formula business in China to the private equity firm Primavera for $2.2bn.

Miners were among the biggest losers after the Chinese trade data and as base metals prices fell, with Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all lower.

Workspace provider IWG tumbled after it warned that underlying earnings for 2021 were set to be "well below" the previous year’s level due to the prolonged impact of Covid-related restrictions in some of its markets.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,082.89 0.20%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,870.19 0.16%
techMARK (TASX) 4,388.02 0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 175.40p 2.33%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,217.00p 2.09%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 771.60p 2.09%
Barclays (BARC) 187.64p 2.00%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,762.00p 1.80%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,756.00p 1.79%
M&G (MNG) 250.60p 1.79%
BT Group (BT.A) 180.10p 1.75%
Royal Mail (RMG) 600.40p 1.59%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 49.68p 1.52%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 3,198.50p -1.72%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,540.50p -1.60%
Fresnillo (FRES) 861.60p -1.58%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,682.00p -1.20%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,341.00p -1.09%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,982.00p -0.91%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,530.00p -0.90%
Glencore (GLEN) 326.80p -0.89%
British Land Company (BLND) 510.40p -0.70%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 535.80p -0.67%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Redrow (RDW) 699.00p 3.10%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 182.80p 2.58%
Vistry Group (VTY) 1,325.50p 1.92%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 108.00p 1.89%
JTC (JTC) 662.00p 1.85%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 389.00p 1.83%
Ascential (ASCL) 384.00p 1.75%
Bellway (BWY) 3,646.00p 1.73%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,675.00p 1.71%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 450.20p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IWG (IWG) 315.00p -14.05%
Energean (ENOG) 797.50p -3.74%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 193.00p -3.16%
Rank Group (RNK) 193.20p -2.13%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 58.50p -2.01%
Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 2,160.00p -1.59%
SSP Group (SSPG) 295.00p -1.47%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 172.60p -1.37%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,341.00p -1.09%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 25.40p -1.01%