LONDON (ShareCast) - Utilities groups are going strong in led by Pennon after Morgan Stanley raised the water group to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal-weight’ and lifted its price target to 730p from 645p, saying the water group should provide a safe haven for investors.

The broker said Pennon offers low regulatory risk and good growth prospects.

British Gas owner Centrica is also doing well after it said it continues to trade in line with guidance provided in its interim statement last month. The group said in May that operating profit for the first half will be “materially lower” than the same period last year.

Banks are under the cosh again after HBOS said trading continues to be in line with expectations but expects first half writedowns to reach £1bn and the UK economy to slow with house prices deteriorating further. The Edinburgh-based bank leads the sector lower, joined among the fallers by Alliance and Leicester, RBS and Barclays.

Top performing sectors so far today
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,522.70 +1.49%
Food Producers & Processors 4,065.00 +1.29%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,492.50 +1.23%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 7,100.80 +0.97%
Food & Drug Retailers 4,438.60 +0.75

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Insurance (non-life) 1,116.20 -1.97%
Banks 6,636.30 -1.57%
Beverages 6,254.60 -1.46%
Construction & Materials 4,466.30 -1.41%
Tobacco 23,122.30 -1.41%

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