FTSE 100 movers: Housebuilders rally on Persimmon update; CRH falls

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,862.53 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Building materials company CRH lost ground despite reporting a "positive" start to the year, with first-quarter sales and EBITDA ahead of the previous year amid good demand.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser fell as it announced the appointment of a new chief executive, and posted a rise in first-quarter sales thanks to price hikes.

Bunzl retreated despite saying it expects annual revenue and operating margin to be slightly ahead of forecasts as it reported a rise in first-quarter sales of 8.4%.

Housebuilders were the top performers on index after well-received results from Persimmon, which posted a slump in first-quarter completions but said it expects full-year 2023 volumes to be towards the top end of guidance following an improvement in sales rates since the start of the year. Peers followed suit, with Taylor Wimpey and Barratt also trading up.

Standard Chartered pushed higher after it posted better-than-expected first-quarter profits, driven by higher interest rates and forecast annual earnings at the top end of guidance.

Smith & Nephew gained as the medical equipment manufacturer reiterated after seeing revenues improve in the first quarter.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,318.00p +6.63%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 124.95p +3.18%

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 495.20p +3.02%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 634.40p +2.22%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 516.20p +1.77%

Centrica (CNA) 112.60p +1.62%

Glencore (GLEN) 476.35p +1.57%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 654.00p +1.55%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,018.00p +1.55%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,293.50p +1.53%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,965.00p -4.90%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 160.10p -3.58%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,879.00p -3.56%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,330.00p -2.62%

Experian (EXPN) 2,720.00p -2.58%

Bunzl (BNZL) 3,120.00p -2.56%

Halma (HLMA) 2,230.00p -2.49%

Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,935.50p -2.44%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,582.00p -2.23%

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,884.50p -1.85%