FTSE 100 movers: Housebuilders, Aviva rally

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,531.98 in afternoon trade on Wednesday. Persimmon, Berkeley, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt were among the top gainers after results from FTSE 250 peer Redrow.

The housebuilder rallied despite saying that weekly sales over the summer had almost halved due to rising mortgage costs amid a "challenging" market and revealed a fall in full year profits.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said full-year underlying pre-tax profit came in ahead of analysts' expectations.

Aviva gained after agreeing to sell its 25.9% stake in Singapore Life Holdings (Singlife), together with two debt instruments, to Sumitomo Life for £800m in cash.

Banks were also on the rise, with HSBC and Barclays both higher.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,054.50p 3.08% Aviva (AV.) 387.30p 2.92% Vodafone Group (VOD) 79.22p 2.38% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 610.80p 2.26% Barclays (BARC) 156.86p 2.14% Melrose Industries (MRO) 489.30p 2.09% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,083.00p 2.05% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 117.40p 1.95% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 444.20p 1.69% BT Group (BT.A) 118.00p 1.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 767.80p -4.22% Croda International (CRDA) 4,908.00p -2.43% Halma (HLMA) 2,120.00p -2.03% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 155.30p -1.93% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,379.00p -1.82% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,242.00p -1.67% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 138.15p -1.64% United Utilities Group (UU.) 940.80p -1.53% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,688.00p -1.52% Haleon (HLN) 319.40p -1.40%