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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Sector movers: Homebuilders, Electricity and Big Pharma pace gains

(Sharecast News) - Homebuilders and defensive segments of the stock market paced gains at the end of the week. Boosting the former were positive comments out of analysts at Berenberg.

In particular, they judged that the worst-case scenarios for house price deflation had been averted.

They also noted the relative improvement over recent months in sales rates, which supported pricing, and predicted modest build cost deflation for 2024.

Affordability had also improved with mortgage payments having fallen to approximately 40% of a typical new homebuyers' earnings, they estimated.

Electricity and Big Pharma gained alongside.

Going the other way, shares of Diageo dragged on the Beverages space following a downgrade out of Jefferies from 'buy' to 'hold'.

Top performing sectors so far today

Retailers 3,785.70 +2.08%

Household Goods & Home Construction 11,894.71 +1.54%

Electricity 11,420.46 +1.29%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 22,344.48 +1.24%

Oil, Gas and Coal 8,352.46 +1.22%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Beverages 27,367.42 -2.48%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,225.58 -1.26%

Real Estate Investment & Services 2,264.72 -0.85%

Personal Goods 35,176.73 -0.77%

Travel & Leisure 7,651.64 -0.63%

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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