After yesterday's extraordinary share crash - sparked by fears of a global recession - people might be forgiven for feeling a little gloomy today. The FTSE 100 is a little confused this morning, opening in the red, moving into the black, and to-ing and fro-ing all morning. At 10.30am, it was down 8.2 points at 5570.
But surprisingly, one sector that is holding up well is the property sector, due in part to a good trading update from Land Securities, and in anticipation of interest rate cuts in the US and the UK.
Land Securities, a real estate investment trust, was up 55p at £15.56 after an upbeat trading statement - welcome news in the current negative environment. The company said it had made a net profit of £17.7m in the third quarter, having sold £507.8m worth of properties. The sales, it said, were 5.6% above the September 2007 valuation.
More importantly, the group said it was well placed to run the group "through the current challenging environment" and was ready "to exploit opportunities that arise in its business sectors".
As a result of the update, but more particularly on hopes of an interest rate cut on both sides of the Atlantic, property-related stocks were on the rise. British Land, the property investment firm, increased 38.5p to 961.5p, Segro was up 8.25p at 501p, and Hammerson rose 27p to £10.83.
On the housebuilding side, Taylor Wimpey was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100, up 13p to 196.7p. Persimmon followed close behind, rising 37p to 796p, and Barratt Developments increased 25p to 425p.
