London close: Markets inch higher on quiet day, but housing stocks sink

28th Nov 2013 16:28

- FTSE 100 edges higher, global equities close to six-year high- US markets closed for Thanksgiving- Housing, tobacco stocks pressured by government policytechMARK 2,668.00 +0.35%FTSE 100 6,654.47 +0.08%FTSE 250 15,431.80 +0.16%The FTSE 100 registered small gains on Thursday on a relatively quiet day for financial markets with indices in the States closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.Nevertheless, record closes for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 on Wall Street on Wednesday night helped boost markets across Europe with the FTSE All-World equity index trading close to a six-year high of 264.7.London's benchmark index finished just five points higher at 6,654.47 after trading within a narrow range for most of the day, as strong gains in the mining sector were partly offset by weakness in housing and tobacco.With an absence of US data today and very little out from the UK, the focus was on economic indicators from the Eurozone during the session. While business confidence in the single-currency region improved in November, consumer confidence declined.Meanwhile, figures from Germany showed that unemployment in Europe's largest economy rose to its highest level since April 2011. The number of people out of work climbed for the fourth straight month in November, up 10,000 to 2.985m, much worse than the 1,000 increase expected by analysts.Housing stocks fall on mortgage concernsHousing stocks were under pressure today after the Bank of England announced it will scale back a scheme to boost mortgage lending as evidence begins to point to a housing market boom. The Funding for Lending Scheme will now focus solely on enabling greater lending to small firms that are having difficulties with borrowing as house price inflation looks set to accelerate further. Persimmon, Travis Perkins, Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes and Barratt Developments were all registering steep losses by midday.Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco were under the weather after the UK government launched a fresh review into plain packaging. This is a major U-turn for Prime Minister David Cameron after he said earlier this year that there wasn't enough evidence to show whether the measure would discourage young smokers.Rio Tinto gained after saying it will increase its mine production capacity at lower capital cost per tonne at its iron ore business in Western Australia. Other mining stocks were performing well as metals prices gained. Fresnillo, Vedanta, Glencore Xstrata, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton were higher while Anglo American was benefitting from a ratings upgrade from Liberum Capital.DIY retailer Kingfisher fell sharply after a weak performance in France held back third-quarter retail profits. Plumbing and heating products group Wolseley also disappointed with its first-quarter results as trading continues to be mixed across its key regions. Meanwhile, pubs group and brewer Marston's slumped after saying that it would sell 202 pubs in an effort to reduce debt and pay for new "higher turnover pub-restaurants".Travel operator Thomas Cook surged after reporting a better-than-expected 49% jump in full-year operating profits as it lifted its near-term guidance for revenue and cost-cutting.Kentz rose on speculation that the oil engineering firm is again on the bidding block. According to Acquisitions Daily, Austria's M+W Group is considering a new bid for the British company after pulling out of an earlier possible bid in September.FTSE 100 - RisersRio Tinto (RIO) 3,261.00p +3.89%Fresnillo (FRES) 835.50p +2.83%Old Mutual (OML) 199.40p +2.78%Anglo American (AAL) 1,375.00p +2.73%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,222.00p +2.60%Vedanta Resources (VED) 895.50p +2.34%TUI Travel (TT.) 369.70p +1.90%Capita (CPI) 995.00p +1.79%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,875.50p +1.71%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 312.25p +1.66%FTSE 100 - FallersPersimmon (PSN) 1,170.00p -6.10%Kingfisher (KGF) 378.60p -4.39%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,783.00p -2.67%easyJet (EZJ) 1,411.00p -2.29%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 368.30p -2.18%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,316.00p -1.91%Compass Group (CPG) 922.00p -1.76%Wolseley (WOS) 3,337.00p -1.71%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 346.20p -1.31%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,722.00p -1.20%FTSE 250 - RisersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 175.70p +14.69%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 145.50p +8.66%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 240.00p +7.29%RPS Group (RPS) 312.00p +6.41%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 890.00p +5.45%Britvic (BVIC) 670.00p +4.36%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 417.50p +4.35%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 19.86p +3.82%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 173.30p +3.71%Hellermanntyton Group (HTY) 300.00p +3.45%FTSE 250 - FallersIP Group (IPO) 182.00p -7.57%Marston's (MARS) 143.70p -7.35%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 107.40p -6.20%Bellway (BWY) 1,446.00p -5.55%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 777.00p -5.53%Redrow (RDW) 273.50p -5.17%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 329.90p -4.85%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 345.00p -4.06%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 584.00p -3.95%Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,079.00p -3.40%BC