’Twas the night before Christmas but there were more than a few creatures stirring in the City. A sharp sell-off in a FTSE 250 housebuilder rippled across the industry on Tuesday, dragging down big property names.
A third profit warning in as many months hit Vistry shares hard, leaving them down 106½p, or 16.3 per cent, to 547½p when the market closed at lunchtime. The company blamed its lower profit guidance on delays to transactions and completions.
Fears of broader weakness in the market weighed on its peers as Persimmon, Crest Nicholson, Barratt Redrow and Taylor Wimpey all fell. The worst performer of those was Persimmon, which lost 29p, or 2.4 per cent, to close at £11.82.
However, the FTSE 100 index ended the