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Britain's FTSE buoyed by utilities before budget update

(ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon, see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)

* FTSE 100 up up 0.5 percent

* United Utilities (LSE: UU.L - news) rises after results

* Estate agents slump on fee clampdown plans

* Thomas Cook (Frankfurt: A0MR3W - news) rises to highest since May

By Alistair Smout

LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose on Wednesday, boosted by rising utility and commodity firms before finance minister Philip Hammond outlines his policies in the biggest economic update since the country voted to leave the European Union.

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The FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent by 1034 GMT, helped by a rise in United Utilities after its results, with miners also rallying again to extend a rally in the previous session.

Hammond will outline his plans in his Autumn Statement at 1230 GMT. Sectors such as housing, utilities, energy and airlines could witness big swings in the event of any sector-specific announcements.

Estate agents Foxtons and Countrywide tumbled 10 and 5 percent respectively on a government plan to ban one-off tenant fees, set to be announced by Hammond.

Hammond "will wrestle with a worsening of public finances but will nonetheless put cheaper housing front and centre by banning letting fees," said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, in a note, adding that the move could dent the profitability of estate agents.

United Utilities rallied on the back of its results after it posted slightly higher first-half profit, helped by new pricing regulations and lower spending on infrastructure improvements.

Sector peer Severn Trent (Other OTC: STRNY - news) , which reports results on Thursday, rose 2.3 percent. It saw its target price upgraded by HSBC.

Precious metals miners benefited from a slight rise in the price of gold. Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) rose 3.6 percent while Randgold rose 3 percent.

In all, the FTSE 350 mining sector was up 1.3 percent.

Among mid caps, Thomas Cook rose 9 percent after it posted profits slightly ahead of expectations.

It rose to its highest level since May, when it cautioned that security concerns were dampening summer demand in an update which sent shares down 19 percent.

"It was a tough year for the tourist industry with instability in Turkey and a spate of terror attacks taking their toll," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"But Thomas Cook's swift action to shift its holiday programme into the Western Mediterranean and long haul, together with the benefits of a stronger euro, helped it to maintain revenue, and bookings for next summer in its key markets are encouraging."

Online trading firm CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) dropped 5 percent after it reported a fall in net operating income in its first half results. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)