Housebuilder boost helps lift FTSE 100 to two-week high

The UK’s top index jumped to a two-week high in a cheerful session following the bank holiday weekend.

Housebuilders on London’s FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 gained more than £870 million in value on Tuesday after the Government moved to relax environment rules (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Wire)

Housebuilders on London’s FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 gained more than £870 million in value on Tuesday after the Government moved to relax environmental rules in a bid to speed up the building of new homes.

The UK’s top index jumped to a two-week high in a cheerful session following the bank holiday weekend.

It gained 126.41 points, or 1.72%, closing at 7,464.99.

Shares in housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey rose sharply during the day at the prospect of strict EU-era planning restrictions being eased under plans to provide an additional 100,000 new homes in England by 2030.

Investors appeared not to be concerned by criticism from environmental campaign groups, who accused the Government of backtracking on its commitments to clean up the UK’s rivers.

Meanwhile, new figures showed that price rises in British shops slowed to their lowest rate since October this month, driven by a fall in fresh food price inflation.

The data from the British Retail Consortium buoyed investors with the UK-focused FTSE 250 soaring by nearly 1.9%.

The cheerful sentiment was felt across the globe on Tuesday. Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Dax jumped 0.88% and France’s Cac 40 was up 0.67%.

In the US, the S&P 500 was up by 1.1% and Dow Jones up 0.6% by the time European stock markets closed.

The pound was up by about 0.2% against the US dollar to 1.2621, and down about 1.2% against the euro to 1.1626.

In company news, shares in Bunzl jumped higher after the outsourcing group upped its profit expectations for the year after seeing cost pressures ease and following efforts to boost its margins.

The FTSE 100-listed firm told shareholders it now expects its annual underlying earnings to be “moderately higher” than in 2022. Its share price closed 3.1% higher.

Shares in Watches of Switzerland rallied on Tuesday after the stock suffered sharp falls last week following Rolex’s purchase of rival chain Bucherer, which could shake up the luxury watch market.

The retailer had seen its share price plunge by more than a quarter on Friday after the surprise acquisition. But it partially recovered on Tuesday and its share price was up by 5.2% at close.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado Group, up 40.4p to 782.2p, Persimmon, up 52p to 1,039p, DS Smith, up 15p to 308.2p, Rolls-Royce Holdings, up 9.9p to 212.9p, and Johnson Matthey, up 72.5p to 1,615p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Haleon, down 1.15p to 326.6p, B&M European Value Retail, down 1.8p to 565.4p, Pershing Square Holdings, down 4p to 2,988p, and Compass Group, down 2p to 2,017p.