MW: U.K. housing stocks sag on mortgage-rule concerns
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. stocks pulled lower Monday, with housing shares hit by possible changes to mortgage rules, but overall losses were somewhat limited by a rise in mining issues following data from the key Chinese market.
The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.18% fell 0.2% to 6,814.84, with real-estate stocks down following reports that the Bank of England this week will propose measures aimed at cooling the pace of growth in the country’s booming housing market.
Demand for loans to buy houses “increased significantly” in the second quarter and lenders foresee demand increasing further over the next three months, according to results released Monday from a Bank of England survey on credit conditions.
Shares of home builder Barratt Developments PLC UK:BDEV -3.22% fell 3.4%, Persimmon PLC UK:PSN -1.63% lost 2.1% and property developer British Land Co. UK:BLND -1.24% lost 1.5%. Off the FTSE 100, Taylor Wimpey PLC UK:TW -1.75% gave up 1.9%.
The central bank’s Financial Policy Committee on Thursday is expected to outline recommendations on how to slow the housing market. Last month, BOE Gov. Mark Carney said the biggest risk to the U.K.’s economic recovery is the jump in housing prices and the impact of increased borrowing by home buyers. The central bank has also signaled it will raise interest rates later this year.
Recommendations by the FPC may include paring the government’s Help-to-Buy housing loan program and tightening requirements related to loan-to-value and loan-to-income metrics, said analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman. “Given the institutional and foreign participation in the U.K. property market the impact of such macro-prudential steps will impact the middle class domestic demand more than other market segments,” they said.
Banking shares also struggled, with Lloyds Banking Group UK:LLOY -1.30% down 1.1%, Royal Bank of Scotland UK:RBS -1.81% off 1.9% and HSBC Holding Ltd. UK:HSBA -0.36% lower by 0.5%.
Meanwhile, shares of Shire PLC UK:SHP -0.18% SHPG -0.44% fell 1% as the drug maker outlined its view that its product portfolio and pipeline will reach $6.5 billion in sales by 2016 and $10 billion in sales by 2020. Shire last week rejected an acquisition offer from U.S. rival AbbVie Inc. ABBV +1.35% , saying the bid undervalued the company.
Mining shares gained following a better-than-expected result for HSBC’s June preliminary manufacturing report from China, a major buyer of natural resources. Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO +1.63% rose 1.7%, BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT +1.84% advanced 1.8% and Anglo American PLC UK:AAL +1.55% tacked on 1.3%. rose 1.4%.
The headline number of the “flash” version of HSBC’s China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.8 from a final reading of 49.4 in May, marking the first time since December the index indicated growth.
