London close: Upmarket housebuilders hit as investors digest Autumn Statement

3rd Dec 2014 16:29

Upmarket housing stocks took a hit but airlines were flying higher as investors reacted to the UK's Autumn Statement on Wednesday.Shares in Berkeley Group Holdings were 76p off at 2468p and estate agency Foxtons subsided 2.6p to 152.8p as Chancellor George Osborne introduced a new stamp duty regime set to benefit anyone buying a home worth less than £937,000.But house-builders that build mid-market and cheaper homes were on the up, with Persimmon rising 15p to 1540p, Barratt Developments gaining 7.9p to 458.9p, Bovis Homes advancing 14.5p to 872p and Taylor Wimpey increasing 2.2p to 132.5p.Measures to abolish air passenger duty for children under 12 lifted airline stocks, with Easyjet ascending 40p to 1668p and International Airlines Group (IAG) 5.8p higher at 466.1p.Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said: "The big move higher in airline stocks reflects not just the impact of the cut in APD's for children but also the increased likelihood the UK will follow Scottish plans to scrap it altogether."The FTSE 100 Index fell 25.47 points to 6716.63 amid downbeat economic news from across the Pond.Employment in the US grew by 208,000 people in November, according to consultancy ADP, worse than the 222,000 analysts had been expecting.Meanwhile, Markit revealed the final reading of its purchasing managers' index (PMI) for Eurozone services activity was revised to 51.1 from the initial estimate of 51.3. The composite PMI was also revised to 51.1 from 51.4.The UK services PMI increased to 58.6 in November from 56.2 the previous month, Markit said. Analysts had expected a reading 56.5.Investec slashed its target for the share price of Weir Group by 17%, causing the oil services company's shares to leak 29p to 1798p.But accountancy software firm Sage jumped 18.9p to 422.1p after revealing a 65.3% rise in annual profits to £298m and said it was on track to hit its financial targets for 2015.Market MoverstechMARK 2,940.59 +0.06%FTSE 100 6,716.63 -0.38%FTSE 250 15,811.55 -0.14%FTSE 100 - RisersSage Group (SGE) 422.10p +4.69%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,284.00p +2.88%ARM Holdings (ARM) 915.00p +2.69%Sports Direct International (SPD) 690.50p +2.68%easyJet (EZJ) 1,668.00p +2.46%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,069.00p +1.81%3i Group (III) 450.00p +1.81%Standard Chartered (STAN) 954.90p +1.55%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,331.00p +1.50%Fresnillo (FRES) 737.50p +1.44%FTSE 100 - FallersBT Group (BT.A) 408.30p -2.30%Reed Elsevier (REL) 1,088.00p -1.98%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,150.00p -1.90%Royal Mail (RMG) 398.00p -1.85%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,401.00p -1.82%Capita (CPI) 1,051.00p -1.59%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,798.00p -1.59%Diageo (DGE) 1,945.00p -1.54%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,259.00p -1.44%SABMiller (SAB) 3,385.00p -1.40%FTSE 250 - RisersEnQuest (ENQ) 49.00p +13.32%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 49.46p +5.75%Northgate (NTG) 561.00p +5.35%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 289.20p +3.73%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 334.00p +2.93%Countrywide (CWD) 437.00p +2.85%Savills (SVS) 650.00p +2.69%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,419.00p +2.60%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,196.00p +2.52%Acacia Mining (ACA) 247.10p +2.28%FTSE 250 - FallersJust Eat (JE.) 307.00p -9.49%Soco International (SIA) 271.80p -5.13%Afren (AFR) 47.43p -4.08%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,215.00p -3.25%Infinis Energy (INFI) 220.80p -3.16%Saga (SAGA) 150.70p -3.15%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,468.00p -2.99%Home Retail Group (HOME) 192.10p -2.83%Drax Group (DRX) 585.50p -2.82%Renishaw (RSW) 1,906.00p -2.80%FTSE TechMARK - RisersDRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 14.00p +7.69%Filtronic (FTC) 23.75p +5.56%Anite (AIE) 79.75p +4.93%Triad Group (TRD) 15.75p +2.44%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 5.50p +1.85%Torotrak (TRK) 14.25p +1.79%Vectura Group (VEC) 133.50p +0.56%Promethean World (PRW) 24.75p +0.51%Consort Medical (CSRT) 711.50p +0.35%Skyepharma (SKP) 373.00p +0.27%FTSE TechMARK - FallersOptos (OPTS) 231.75p -3.44%NCC Group (NCC) 202.50p -2.53%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 15.38p -2.38%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,400.00p -2.10%Innovation Group (TIG) 30.25p -1.63%E2V Technologies (E2V) 171.50p -1.15%Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 427.12p -1.13%SDL (SDL) 394.25p -1.00%Ricardo (RCDO) 619.00p -0.88%Sepura (SEPU) 148.25p -0.67%