London midday: FTSE just higher as housebuilders rally ahead of spending review
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 11 Jun 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were a smidgen firmer by midday on Wednesday as investors mulled news of a "framework" trade truce between the US and China, with housebuilders up ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending review and all eyes on a key US inflation reading.
The FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 8,857.76.
After two days of Sino-US talks in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said both sides had agreed a framework for implementing the consensus reached in Geneva.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "The big news on Wednesday is that the US/ China trade talks have come to an end. The talks concluded with a pledge to enforce the Geneva protocol on trade between the two nations, albeit with a renewed focus on some sensitive areas.
"China has pledged to speed up shipments of rare earth minerals to the US, while the US side has agreed to curb some export controls."
On the macro front, investors awaited the release of the US consumer price index for May at 1330 BST amid expectations for headline and core inflation to edge higher to 2.4% and 2.9% respectively.
On home shores, meanwhile, Rachel Reeves will deliver her spending review after PMQs.
Brooks said: "This much-hyped event will see the chancellor allocate £600bn of public funding later today, which is one quarter of the UK economy. No pressure then, Rachel! One wrong move and the Chancellor's hopes for growth could be dashed. Much of the spending review has already been flagged.
"There will be more money for defense and the NHS, pensioners will get their winter fuel allowance back and hopes for a bigger policing budget look like they have been dashed. The chancellor has already pledged to invest in Northern transport links; some may wonder if London and the South will get any pledges from the Chancellor later today.
"While we know where the vast amount of money will be allocated ahead of this speech, what we don't know is where the savings will come from? The spending review has been touted as one of the biggest ever Treasury exercises, going line by line through government departments budgets to look for inefficiencies and elimination of waste. If the Chancellor cannot convince the market that she is serious about getting the UK's finances on a good footing, then the UK Gilt market may give back some of Tuesday's gains, and bond yields could rise, which may weigh on sterling."
In equity markets, Asia-focused Prudential and Standard Chartered were among the top risers.
Housebuilders rallied, with Reeves expected to announce a £39bn investment for social and affordable housing in the spending review. Persimmon, Barratt Redrow, Berkeley, Vistry, Crest Nicholson and Bellway were all up.
Healthcare property investment and management firm Assura advanced after it agreed to an increased and final 52.1p-a-share offer from KKR and Stonepeak valuing the company at around £1.7bn.
On the downside, building products manufacturer Ibstock tumbled as its guidance for full-year adjusted EBITDA fell short of consensus expectations.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,857.76 0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,422.60 0.15%
techMARK (TASX) 5,084.52 0.73%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Prudential (PRU) 897.00p 2.42%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 19,865.00p 2.05%
BT Group (BT.A) 179.75p 1.96%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,168.00p 1.74%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,403.00p 1.67%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 483.10p 1.64%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,528.00p 1.61%
Glencore (GLEN) 293.65p 1.26%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 890.40p 1.18%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,316.00p 1.17%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 80.48p -1.78%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 477.80p -1.77%
3i Group (III) 4,184.00p -1.62%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 367.90p -1.47%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,097.00p -1.35%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 255.00p -1.01%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 354.00p -0.98%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,225.00p -0.95%
Diageo (DGE) 1,978.50p -0.93%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 629.00p -0.87%
FTSE 250 - Risers
THG (THG) 26.00p 10.17%
Vistry Group (VTY) 703.80p 7.61%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 191.70p 5.85%
Quilter (QLT) 164.60p 5.18%
PRS Reit (The) (PRSR) 123.80p 4.21%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 489.60p 3.51%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 49.20p 3.36%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 258.00p 3.20%
Bellway (BWY) 2,968.00p 2.91%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,212.00p 2.62%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ibstock (IBST) 168.20p -12.94%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 649.50p -2.62%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 78.95p -2.59%
FirstGroup (FGP) 211.60p -2.58%
ITV (ITV) 79.50p -1.67%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 95.70p -1.39%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 48.00p -1.34%
Softcat (SCT) 1,835.00p -1.29%
Breedon Group (BREE) 445.80p -1.28%
Genus (GNS) 1,952.00p -1.21%
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