Sector movers: Housebuilders gain on construction data

13th Sep 2013 14:51

The household goods and home construction sector was the best-performing category on Friday, extending its impressive surge over the last year.Investors seemed to be shrugging off heightened fears of a 'bubble' in the UK housing market and instead are focusing on a continuing improvement in economic data. The Office for National Statistics revealed today that UK construction output gained by 2.2% from June to July, better than the 2.1% rise expected by analysts.The improvement was helped by a large increase in new work which will likely help to offset some fears about a shortage of supply contributing to a potential new price 'bubble'. Barratt Developments was the standout performer in afternoon trade, rising 5.43% to 332.1p, after Liberum Capital upgraded the housebuilder from 'hold' to 'buy' in the aftermath of its annual results earlier this week. The broker labelled Barratt as its preferred pick in the sector and said it is well positioned to gain from the government housing initiatives and should benefit from rising house prices.Since the start of January, Barratt shares have risen by around 60%, meaning that the stock has now nearly doubled over the past year.Homebuilder Crest Nicholson was also on the rise today, along with Berkeley Group, Persimmon, Bellway, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow and Bovis Homes.The sector as a whole was up 2% this afternoon and has now risen by 37% over the last 12 months.Top performing sectors so far todayHousehold Goods & Home Construction 10,392.82 +2.02%Industrial Metals & Mining 1,628.43 +0.97%Mobile Telecommunications 4,937.86 +0.77%Industrial Engineering 10,515.16 +0.76%Media 6,141.10 +0.68%Bottom performing sectors so far todayMining 16,959.91 -2.23%Personal Goods 25,914.22 -0.77%Oil & Gas Producers 7,756.43 -0.54%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,151.51 -0.50%Banks 5,028.90 -0.48%BC