The market is underwhelmed by Chancellor Phillip Hammond's Autumn Statement although there are a few notable stock movements including infrastructure specialists and estate agents.
MARKET UNDERWHELMED
The domestic focused FTSE 250 barely moved on Hammond's statement. That's despite a promised reduction in corporation tax to 17% and the announcement of a £23bn infrastructure and innovation fund - both of which should be positive for many equities.
The financial services industry and pension savers will certainly be breathing sigh of relief at the lack of any tinkering with tax relief.
At the macro level. the Office for Budgetary Responsibility sees growth slowing from 2.1% in 2016 to 1.4% in 2017 and says Brexit will hit GDP by 2.4% over the next five years.
LET DOWN
Investors had already priced in a well-publicised ban on upfront fees charged by letting agents, marking down shares from Foxtons (FOXT), LSL Property Services (LSL), Countrywide (CWD) and Belvoir Lettings (BLV:AIM) by between 3% and 10%.
INFRASTRUCTURE SPEND
A pledge to increase spending on infrastructure including better transport links should benefit a raft of service providers on the stock market. Highway service provider Costain (COST) rises 0.7% to 352.22p. Crash barrier specialist Hill & Smith (HILS) advances 0.7% to £12.48.
Renew Holdings (RNWH:AIM) could benefit from the infrastructure push in the UK. It provides engineering services to a range of markets including rail, telecoms and water. In particular, it supports companies active in land remediation which is relevant to the Government's support for unlocking land to build new houses.
The Government wants to test digital signalling on the UK rail network and squeeze more capacity out of existing rail infrastructure. That could favour Tracsis (TRCS:AIM), up 0.9% to 514.6p, as its skills include the monitoring of technology systems used on the rail network.
INNOVATIVE THINKING
CityFibre Infrastructure (CITY:AIM) jumps 7.3% as the Chancellor announces support to improve UK network speed and reliability and to start trials for 5G. The small cap designs, builds and operates pure-fibre networks.
A pledge to invest in research, development and innovation via addition Government funding should play to the strengths of fund manager Neil Woodford. One of his funds, Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), champions growth businesses and has a particular focus on science and innovation.
INSURANCE HIT
Insurance providers retreated on news that insurance premium tax will rise from 10% to 12% from June 2017. That will put pressure on insurers to either pass on the extra cost to customers or take a hit to earnings. Admiral (ADM) and Direct Line (DLG) fall by up to 1.5% on the news.
BIG BUILD UP
Housebuilders didn't get the leg up that many investors had expected. The market expected more from the Chancellor than a £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund to support the building of 100,000 new homes in high demand areas and £1.4bn to deliver 40,000 extra affordable homes.
Barratt Developments (BDEV) slips 1% to 481.7p, Taylor Wimpey (TW.) is down 0.6% to 150.4p, Persimmon (PSN) falls 1.4% to £17.53 and Redrow (RDW) is off by 1.8%.
