Barratt Developments (BDEV) has jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 after the house builder said profits could hit £733 million for the year, at the top end of investors' expectations.
The shares jumped 4% to 620.6p as Barratt said market conditions remained strong. 'Increased competition within the mortgage market has resulted in wide availability of attractive mortgage finance which, alongside Help to Buy, continues to support the very strong consumer demand,' it said.
Analysts rushed to upgrade their forecasts following the news. 'The good news keeps coming for Barratt shareholders in 2017,' said George Salmon, equity analyst at online stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.
'February saw the group tack another year of special dividends onto its already generous plans, and now management has told analysts to raise their expectations for profits this year, as growth is ahead of schedule.'
Barratt's strong trading lifted rival house builders, with Taylor Wimpey (TW) up 1.5% at 202.5p and Persimmon (PSN) rising 1.5% to £24.37. That supported the FTSE 100, which rose 15 points, or 0.2%, to 7,358.
UK domestic stocks joined the builders at the top of the index, as the pound made gains against a dollar weakened by US president Donald Trump's sacking of FBI director James Comey.
Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF) rose 2.5% to £28.80, Marks and Spencer (MKS) added 1.5% to 385.6p and B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF) jumped 1.5% to 348p. Embattled retailer Next (NXT) was up 2% at £44.15, buoyed by a rare 'buy' rating from analysts at Investec.
But ITV (ITV) missed out on the domestics rally, falling to the bottom of the FTSE 100, down 2.1% at 196.4p as the broadcaster warned advertising revenue could fall by as much as 20% in June.
Among 'mid cap' stocks, industrial firm Vesuvius (VSVS) was the biggest riser, up 8.7% at 590.8p after reporting a strong first quarter.
Talktalk (TALK) slumped to the bottom of the index, down 11% at 162.7p after the broadband provider halved its annual dividend and said earnings would fall.