Sector movers: Defensives continue to lead, housebuilders crumble again

Defensive stocks again topped the leaderboards as investors continue their flight to safety in light of the heightened uncertainty born of the Brexit vote.

Drug makers GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca were among the highest risers on Tuesday, while tobacco company British American Tobacco completed a rise from just over 4,000p to 5,000p since the week of the UK's EU referendum.

Fast-moving consumer goods producers Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser also were among the top risers.

Another familiar sight was housebuilders again declining.

A trading update from Persimmon showed revenues up a handsome 12% coupled with volumes and average selling prices climbing by 6%, but the FTSE 100 company admitted it was too early to weigh the impact of Brexit.

The market's opinion was clear, sending its shares down more than 6%. Peers Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey declined even further.

"Once again, results are worth nada; outlook is king," said analyst Mike Van Dulken at Accendo Markets. "Share prices quite rightly attribute nearly all importance on future earnings potential rather than historical performance; after all, you can’t buy past growth. "

The FTSE 250 was lower, led down by its group of smaller banks, Shawbrook, Virgin Money, OneSavings Bank and Aldermore Group.

Risks for this group were highlighted by the Bank of England's Financial Stability Report, which noted the risks around the UK commercial property market, to which this group is exposed.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,546.99 0.38%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,728.69 -2.41%
techMARK (TASX) 3,216.79 0.31%

FTSE 100 - Risers

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,651.00p 3.12%
National Grid (NG.) 1,133.00p 2.58%
Sage Group (SGE) 642.50p 2.31%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,113.00p 2.30%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,097.50p 2.27%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,003.00p 2.01%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,667.50p 1.97%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,558.50p 1.89%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,642.00p 1.76%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,134.00p 1.70%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 359.10p -7.52%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,311.00p -7.00%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 121.70p -6.74%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 289.90p -6.48%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,343.00p -6.41%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 176.10p -5.83%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,322.00p -5.16%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,133.00p -4.95%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 159.70p -4.66%
Schroders (SDR) 2,240.00p -4.64%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 410.20p 3.72%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 217.60p 3.13%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 492.50p 1.84%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 148.80p 1.71%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 1,938.00p 1.47%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 205.80p 1.43%
Edinburgh Inv Trust (EDIN) 674.00p 1.35%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 688.50p 0.95%
JPMorgan American Inv Trust (JAM) 311.00p 0.88%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 641.00p 0.79%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 138.40p -14.25%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 221.90p -12.84%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 179.20p -12.07%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 234.10p -9.68%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 111.20p -9.67%
Ibstock (IBST) 120.30p -9.48%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 442.70p -9.13%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 146.90p -9.04%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 310.80p -8.91%
Bellway (BWY) 1,687.00p -8.76%