FTSE 100 movers: Housebuilders rally; Hikma, BHP go ex-div

London’s FTSE 100 index was trading down 0.2% to 6,765.41 in afternoon trade.

Housebuilders were the best performers, with Berkeley, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and British Land all sharply higher a day after Nationwide revealed that UK house prices rose more than expected in August despite Brexit uncertainty.

Traders also attributed the sector’s strength to the strong UK manufacturing figures out earlier in the session.

The Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index climbed to a ten-month high of 53.3, recovering from the 41-month low of 48.3 in July following the EU referendum. Economists had been expecting a reading of 49.0.

Berkeley Group rose as investors shrugged off the news it was likely to drop out of the FTSE 100.

Elsewhere, Dixons Carphone was boosted as Deutsche Bank, which rates the stock at ‘buy’, said it was well placed to weather any potential consumer weakness in the UK and continue to see significant growth in its services strategy.

On the downside, Hikma Pharmaceuticals was the worst performer as it went ex-dividend, followed by BHP Billiton.

AstraZeneca was in the red after saying it has completed its commercialisation agreement with Aspen Global Incorporated, for rights to its global anaesthetics portfolio outside the US.

The pharmaceutical giant said the agreement covers seven established medicines - Diprivan, EMLA, Xylocaine, Marcaine, Naropin, Carbocaine and Citanest.

Risers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,784.00p 4.19%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 167.40p 3.78%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 61.48p 3.59%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,882.00p 3.18%
3i Group (III) 633.50p 3.09%
Tesco (TSCO) 171.00p 2.80%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 380.70p 2.70%
GKN (GKN) 318.70p 2.48%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,079.00p 2.43%
British Land Company (BLND) 679.00p 2.41%

Fallers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,088.00p -2.43%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 967.40p -2.27%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,907.50p -1.78%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,578.00p -1.74%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 226.00p -1.68%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,830.00p -1.61%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 1,006.00p -1.57%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,613.50p -1.56%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,045.00p -1.47%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,212.00p -1.38%