FTSE 100 movers: CRH and Ashtead rally; Persimmon in the red

London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 8,168.57 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Building materials group CRH and equipment rental firm Ashtead, both of which have significant exposure to the US, were among the top gainers after Donald Trump won the US election.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Ashtead shares were racing ahead "on the prospect of more building work created by Trump’s desire to drive the US economy including greater manufacturing and construction work".

He added: "As a hirer of construction equipment, it is a direct play on hammers and tools pounding away across the country."

3i Group was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank.

On the downside, Persimmon fell as it said housing completions dipped slightly in the third quarter and the company warned of rising building costs heading into 2025.

Other housebuilders followed suit, with Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Redrow and Berkeley also down.

Smith & Nephew was weaker after Berenberg downgraded the shares to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and cut the price target to 1,050p from 1,450p after a disappointing third-quarter update last week.

"While growth in the US Orthopaedics business improved in Q3, it still lagged peers, and headwinds in China have led to guidance downgrades for 2024E and 2025E. Given these challenges, we are uncertain about whether we will see a significant improvement in the company’s financials over the next 12 months," Berenberg said.

"More than two years into the company’s turnaround plan, the slow pace of recovery somewhat calls into question the level of improvement we can expect from management’s 12-point plan in the medium term."

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,834.00p 5.92%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,996.00p 5.17%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 6,266.00p 4.99%
3i Group (III) 3,494.00p 4.61%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,285.00p 4.58%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 582.50p 4.48%
Entain (ENT) 758.00p 4.26%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,586.00p 3.76%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,326.00p 3.59%
WPP (WPP) 864.40p 3.40%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,359.50p -7.58%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,696.00p -5.38%
Fresnillo (FRES) 689.50p -5.22%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 921.00p -4.68%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,564.00p -3.75%
BT Group (BT.A) 142.50p -3.32%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 141.30p -2.95%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 436.70p -2.70%
British Land Company (BLND) 386.00p -2.67%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,296.00p -2.27%