Market Report: Housebuilding investors relieved despite Budget crack-down on property profits being shifted offshore

Investors in the housebuilding sector seemed undeterred by George Osborne’s crack-down on property profits being shifted offshore, preferring to breathe a sigh of relief that they were not clobbered more.

The Chancellor wants more to be built on brownfield land and reiterated his call for more houses to be built.

It sent Taylor Wimpey up 6.2p to 187.55p; Barratt Developments up 17.5p to 572.75p and Persimmon up 48p to 2,074p.

All three had been hit hard previously, when the Government raised stamp duty and cut benefits for buy-to-let landlords.

Similarly, the insurance sector was relieved to see the much-mooted hike to the insurance premium tax was only 0.75 per cent, despite fears it could have risen by as much as 3 per cent. This sent Legal & General up 6.7p to 234.8p; Direct Line up 6.6p to 372.4p and Standard Life 5.1p to 367.8p.

Further beneficiaries from the Budget also included the personal finance stocks, thanks to the rise in the ISA limits, with St James’s Place, up 34.5p to 934.5p, leading the way.

It left the FTSE 100 up 35.52 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 6,175.49.

The rise was also helped by the latest swings in the global economy, as oil prices edged up on revelations in Qatar that major oil producers plan to meet next month to decide whether to cut production.

Copper also steadied, and Chinese authorities promising more economic support also helped.

Shell closed up 50.5p at 1,711p; Glencore was up 3.45p at 144.3p and BP was 8.1p higher at 350.1p (although the oil companies were also helped by Budget tax breaks in the North Sea).

Elsewhere Smiths fell 27p to 1,050p as the engineer revealed operating profits fell 6 per cent to £217m in the six months to the end of January. It grew business in its medical division that makes hospital and patient equipment, which made up for poor performance at its largest unit, John Crane.

Finally, drug firm Hikma Pharmaceuticals had a fall in sales, as its gout drug failed to impress; but investors saw positives, with its shares ending up 94p, or 5.5 per cent, at 1,815p.