Sector movers: Property stocks build on deal news

14th Aug 2014 17:30

Property stocks drove top flight shares higher on Thursday after positive news in the sector.British Land and Land Securities were leading the FTSE 100 risers after both secured lucrative property deals this week.On Wednesday, Land Securities exchanged contracts to sell its 50% stake in Cabot Circus shopping centre, Quakers Friars and surrounding shops in Bristol to AXA Real Estate, on behalf of its clients, for £267.8m.Also on Wednesday, British Land and Tesco said they had fully pre-let the new £19m extension at Clifton Moor Shopping Park in York.The sector's rise came despite figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors showing that housing sales and new buyer demand in London dropped sharply in July.But support for property stocks came from Bank of England (BoE) policymaker David Miles, who said the central bank feels no immediate pressure to raise interest rates despite data pointing to economic growth.On the downside, miners were having a hard time as Credit Suisse cut its rating on commodity group Glencore's shares to 'neutral' from 'outperform'.Rio Tinto continued to suffer from talk that its $5bn Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine expansion in Mongolia may stall over a row with the Mongolian government, although it emerged late on Thursday that it had secured a deal with Ulan Bator to build a power plant to feed the $6.5bn project.PWTop performing sectors so far todayReal Estate Investment Trusts 2,887.00 +2.00%Chemicals 10,243.99 +1.76%Construction & Materials 3,963.90 +1.73%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 23,135.89 +1.66%Industrial Transportation 2,838.54 +1.56%Bottom performing sectors so far todayMining 17,910.81 -0.79%Personal Goods 23,042.97 -0.38%General Retailers 2,669.19 -0.36%Mobile Telecommunications 4,432.85 -0.30%Forestry & Paper 10,879.07 -0.20%