London open: FTSE gains as housebuilders rally on Bellway update

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, underpinned by optimism over Sino-US trade talks and strength in the housebuilding sector, as investors mulled the latest UK jobs and retail sales data.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,867.67.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: "US-China trade talks are the main focus for investors as they continue in London after a 'fruitful' session on Monday.

"It's hoped that the deal with see the US ease export restrictions of chips while China will release its rare earth minerals."

On the macro front, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in the three months to April from 4.5% in January to March, marking the highest level since summer 2021.

Meanwhile, growth in average weekly earnings excluding bonuses fell to 5.2% from 5.6%, prompting hopes of further rate cuts from the Bank of England.

The data also showed that the early estimate of payrolled employees for May fell by 109,000 on the month and by 274,000 on the year to 30.2 million.

The estimated number of vacancies fell by 63,000 on the quarter, to 736,000 in March to May 2025. This was the 35th consecutive quarterly decline, with quarterly falls seen in 14 out of the 18 industry sectors.

Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said: "There continues to be weakening in the labour market, with the number of people on payroll falling notably. Feedback from our vacancies survey suggests some firms may be holding back from recruiting new workers or replacing people when they move on.

"Our survey of businesses shows a stronger picture for Workforce Jobs, but this covers an earlier period, includes people with multiple jobs and can lag our other sources of labour market information.

"Earnings growth has slowed in both cash and real terms, though it remains strong by historic standards. Public sector pay is now growing at a higher rate than wages in the private sector."

Investors were also mulling the latest data from the British Retail Consortium, which showed that weak discretionary spending held back UK retail sales in May, with year-on-year growth slowing dramatically to the lowest level so far this year.

In equity markets, Bellway rallied as it said trading had been "robust" through the spring selling season and lifted its full-year outlook for completion volumes and average prices. Other housebuilders followed suit, with Persimmon, Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley, Vistry and Crest Nicholson all up.

Aberdeen was a high riser after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to 'overweight' and placed it on 'positive catalyst watch'.

FirstGroup advanced as the train and bus operator announced a new �50m buyback and said the outlook for the current year remains in line with expectations, though rail results will be lower due to South Western Railway (SWR) transferring into public ownership.

On the downside, Hochschild Mining tumbled after saying it expects a "significant reduction" to output guidance at its Mara Rosa gold mine in Brazil due to a processing shutdown caused by heavier-than-usual seasonal rainfall over the past few months and "contractor performance issues".

Oxford Instruments slumped as it said full-year results would be delayed after its auditors requested further time to complete their standard audit procedures. It also announced an agreement to sell its quantum-focused business NanoScience to Quantum Design for �60m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,867.67 0.40%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,316.11 0.14%

techMARK (TASX) 5,058.50 -0.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,340.50p 2.92%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 460.80p 2.40%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 367.30p 2.08%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 118.70p 2.02%

Diageo (DGE) 2,009.00p 1.80%

BP (BP.) 368.40p 1.71%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 901.80p 1.53%

Shell (SHEL) 2,541.50p 1.46%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,248.00p 1.43%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,894.00p 1.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,344.00p -2.18%

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 520.60p -1.14%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,170.00p -1.02%

Barclays (BARC) 329.35p -0.93%

Prudential (PRU) 874.60p -0.61%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 76.62p -0.47%

Halma (HLMA) 2,998.00p -0.46%

Kingfisher (KGF) 273.20p -0.44%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,187.00p -0.41%

WPP (WPP) 541.40p -0.37%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Abrdn (ABDN) 194.50p 5.71%

Bellway (BWY) 2,796.00p 4.56%

AO World (AO.) 99.20p 4.09%

FirstGroup (FGP) 201.00p 3.72%

Vistry Group (VTY) 618.40p 3.45%

Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 641.00p 2.72%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 84.45p 2.61%

Telecom Plus (TEP) 2,095.00p 2.44%

Pagegroup (PAGE) 281.80p 2.10%

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 178.30p 1.77%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 245.60p -18.46%

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,804.00p -5.25%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 286.60p -4.72%

Spectris (SXS) 3,182.00p -2.51%

Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 84.00p -2.33%

Indivior (INDV) 994.00p -2.07%

Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 539.00p -2.00%

XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 388.00p -1.65%

Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 996.10p -1.59%

Just Group (JUST) 150.00p -1.45%