The building boom supporting Britain's pandemic recovery continues to fire up construction stocks after Morgan Sindall and Breedon became the latest to upgrade forecasts today.
Morgan, whose five divisions span infrastructure, regeneration and fit-out projects, saw shares surge as much as 14% in the FTSE 250 index after it revealed profits for 2021 will be significantly ahead of City expectations.
There was also a big jump at AIM-traded Breedon, whose cement, asphalt and ready-mixed concrete plants are busy meeting increased demand from housebuilders and highway maintenance schemes.
Chief executive Rob Wood said: “The outlook for our end markets remains positive, with the UK and Irish governments committed to significant investment in infrastructure.”
He forecast underlying earnings for 2021 at the top end of expectations, helping send shares up 3.8p to 107.8p.
The trends also lifted the big housebuilders as Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey surged 3% in the FTSE 100 index. The top flight, which fell sharply on Monday, returned above 7,000 with a gain of 6.19 points to 7,004.38.
Alongside a 4% rise for British Airways owner IAG, gambling group Flutter Entertainment jumped 485p to 12,915p after broker RBC raised its target price to 16,000p.
Another hot sector continues to be private equity after newly-listed Bridgepoint rose a further 3.1p to 455.1p, compared with yesterday's opening price of 350p, and blue-chip 3i Group added 4% or 43.5p to 1,255.5p.
Its strong start to 2021 follows strong contributions from European discount retail chain Action and Danish furniture business BoConcept as 3i's net asset value rose 12% to 1,063p at the end of June.
The FTSE 250 index surged 1%, up 253.45 points to 22,794.56, as investors shopped around for re-opening stocks, particularly easyJet and cruise ship firm Carnival.
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FirstGroup also rebounded 5% or 3.75p to 83.3p as it marked completing the sale of its US school bus operations by upping the slice to be returned to shareholders to 41p a share or £500 million, from £365 million previously forecast.
