UK Equities See Boost Led by Residential Construction Firms; Pound Weakens Slightly By Investing.com
Wednesday’s trading saw a rise in UK equities, with the FTSE 100 Index closing 0.93% higher at 7,731.65. The surge was primarily driven by residential construction firms. Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) PLC led the gains with a 5.55% increase in shares, followed closely by Persimmon (LON:PSN) PLC and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) PLC, whose shares grew by 5.11% and 4.72%, respectively.
The upward trend was also buoyed by wired telecommunications services firm BT Group (LON:BT) PLC and home goods retailer Kingfisher (LON:KGF) PLC, with their shares increasing by 4.34% and 4.30%, respectively. These five companies marked the largest growth in the FTSE 100 Index.
However, not all constituents of the FTSE 100 Index shared in this surge. Smurfit Kappa Group PLC, a company specializing in containers and packaging, saw the most significant drop among its peers, with its shares declining by 3.93%. Advertising firm WPP (LON:WPP) PLC and building materials producer Melrose Industries PLC also experienced a decrease in their share value, with shares falling by 1.96% and 1.80%, respectively.
Rounding out the top five companies with the most significant share price drops were investment advisors company 3i (LON:III) Group PLC and defense equipment manufacturer BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES), which saw their shares decrease by 1.49% and 1.32%, respectively.
In currency markets, the British pound weakened slightly against both the US dollar and euro, dropping by 0.06% and 0.35%, respectively. The pound was traded at $1.2385 against the dollar and €1.1561 against the euro.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil prices fell by 0.5% to $93.87 per barrel. The yield on the UK’s benchmark 10-year government bond, the gilt, also decreased, falling by 12.820 basis points to 4.215%.
The report, generated using data from Dow Jones and FactSet, reflects the state of the UK stock market as of Wednesday.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
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