London close: FTSE nudges up as banks, gambling stocks rally on Budget; housebuilders slide

(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended just in the black on Wednesday as investors mulled Chancellor John Healey's first Autumn Budget, with banks and gambling companies higher, but housebuilders under the cosh as details of the government scheme for first-time buyers failed to impress.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.1% at 10,694.50.

Banks rose after the Chancellor announced that the bank surcharge would double from 3% to 6%, which was below the 8% feared. He also said the surcharge would be "time limited", starting in January next year and lasting for 15 months.

Standard Chartered, Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays all gained.

StanChart was also boosted by results, after the bank lifted its full-year income and return guidance and posted better-than-expected third-quarter profit.

In the three months to September end, pre-tax profit rose 27% on the same period a year earlier to $2.25bn, beating analysts' expectations of $1.99bn. Operating income grew 14% $5.8bn, driven by a third successive record quarter in Wealth Solutions, along with strong growth in Global Markets and Global Banking, the bank said.

For 2026, the bank now expects operating income growth above a previous range of 5% to 7% and return on tangible equity of around 14%, up from previous guidance of more than 12%.

Gambling companies also rallied, with Mecca Bingo owner Rank Group and Ladbrokes owner Entain sharply higher, along with Evoke, after Healey said the machine games duty would rise to 25% from 20%. Investors breathed a sigh of relief as there had been speculation the duty could double to 40%.

On the downside, housebuilders took a beating, with Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Bellway and Vistry all firmly in the red as investors were left disappointed by Healey's announcement about the 'Your First Home' scheme. The Chancellor said the scheme would be introduced next spring, funded with £4.7bn of government-backed lending.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said investors were unimpressed with the lack of detail and "lowball funding, which is about a fifth of the Help to Buy investments".

GSK fell even as the pharmaceuticals giant reported a 5% increase in third-quarter sales, driven by strong growth in specialty medicines, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.

Consumer goods giant Unilever lost ground despite upping its full-year guidance after delivering another quarter of solid volumeled growth, with underlying sales up 5.2% and turnover rising 6.7% to �13.3bn. Unilever now expects at least 3% underlying volume growth for FY26 and underlying sales growth of around 5% in the second half.