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FTSE eases from 11-month high as oil and housebuilders retreat

Wed, 13th Jul 2016 16:14

* Blue-chip FTSE 100 index down 0.2 pct at close

* Housebuilders retreat after recent gains

* Burberry soars after results

* Poundland shares up over 12 pct on M&A news (Adds detail and quote, updates prices at close)

By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edgedlower on Wednesday after climbing to an 11-month high in theprevious session, with housebuilders giving up some of theirrecent gains and energy shares dragged lower by weaker oilprices.

The FTSE real estate index edged 0.6 percentlower after rising for four straight sessions. Shares in TaylorWimpey and Berkeley Group fell 0.7 and 2.7percent respectively.

Barratt Developments dropped over 2 percent, afterBritain's biggest housebuilder said it might slow the pace ofconstruction and rethink its land buying programme to prepareitself for an expected slowdown sparked by the Brexit vote.

"The market is concerned the housebuilding sector could bein the firing line as a result of the Brexit vote, and whileBarratt have plans in place to reduce risk, it's unlikely thesecould fully insulate the group from a nasty downturn," GeorgeSalmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.

The UK oil & gas index fell 1 percent, trackinga fall in crude oil prices after bearish U.S. stock data addedto renewed concerns over a global oil glut. Shares in BP and Royal Dutch Shell fell 1.3 percent and 0.9 percentrespectively.

The internationally-exposed FTSE 100 index was down0.2 percent at its close, while the mid-cap index,dominated by domestically-focused companies, was flat inpercentage terms.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 is still up about 5 percent since theresult came through on June 24 that Britain had voted to quitthe European Union. Mid-cap companies, which are more sensitiveto domestic policies and economic conditions, are down 3.4percent.

However, the FTSE 100 index, which is dominated by globalcompanies, is down 6.6 percent in U.S. dollar terms in thatperiod, due to the sharp fall in sterling on concerns that theBrexit vote could lead the country into recession.

On the positive side, shares in luxury goods group Burberry jumped 6.3 percent to a 3-month high after its resultsslightly beat expectations and it said that it expected apost-Brexit drop in the pound to boost its earnings this year.

Some investors were more cautious on Burberry's prospects.

"The external environment remains challenging with slowingdemand from travelling customers and Chinese spend globally inaddition to drastically deteriorating wholesale orders,"analysts at Jefferies said in a note, rating the stock a "hold".

Shares in small-cap retailer Poundland surged 12.6percent after South Africa's Steinhoff agreed to buythe British company for 597 million pounds ($793 million) incash.

"The recommended cash offer is a good result for Poundlandshareholders and comes at a time when there was more downsiderisk than upside in our view. The cash offer of 222 pence ishighly attractive and we would advise shareholders to accept,"Liberum analysts said in a note.

Miners Antofagasta and Glencore were alsoin demand on the back of a rally in copper prices, gaining 3.7percent and 0.5 percent respectively. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; editing by Andrew Roche)

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