- Homebuilders lead gains
- AB Foods up after Primark owner expects growth in new year
- Energy shares drop on lower oil prices
- FTSE 100 down 0.1%, FTSE 250 adds 0.3%
Nov 7 (Reuters) - UK's midcap stocks edged higher on Tuesday, lifted by a slew of positive earnings, while the benchmark FTSE 100 was down as a drop in energy shares outweighed the gains in homebuilders and Associated British Foods.
The midcap index FTSE 250 rose 0.3%, while commodity-heavy FTSE 100 was down 0.1%.
Homebuilders were the top gainers, rising 2.0% as British house prices ended six consecutive months of decline in October, reflecting the fewer number of homes being put up for sale.
Persimmon added 3.4% after it said it would build more homes this year than its earlier expectation.
Personal goods sector climbed 1.3%, led by a surge in Watches of Switzerland as the company kept its sales and profit forecast for 2024 unchanged.
The stock soared 7.4%.
Associated British Foods topped charts on FTSE 100, surging 6.8%, after it forecast "meaningful progress" in its new financial year, driven by a strong recovery in the margin of its Primark fashion business.
"It is a real mixed bag today. I think investors are just trying to really figure out what next," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
"On one hand, we've got concern about potential recession but at the same time we have this expectation that interest rates won't stay as high for as long and certainly have now reached their peak which investors are sort of filtering in."
Direct Line Insurance Group rose 3.5% after the British insurer posted an increase in gross premiums written in the third quarter, helped by price increases in motor insurance policies.
Oil and gas shares led losses among sectors to fall 1.5% on lower prices. Precious metal miners slid 0.6% after gold slipped to a near two-week low.
Meanwhile, British consumer spending grew at the slowest pace in more than a year last month, reflecting concerns about the cost of living in the run-up to Christmas, according to a survey.
Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil
Source: Reuters