Tonight:
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There is still no sign that the slump in the housing market has hit rock bottom. In fact, some property experts are predicting prices will continue falling throughout the remainder of this year, by as much as another 10% to 20%.
But that has not deterred Bank of America Merrill Lynch from upgrading some of the biggest operators.
The broker seems to think that although the sector has rallied from its low point in January, shares may have been oversold.
It has raised its rating on Persimmon, down 14½p at 335½p, and Taylor Wimpey, off ¾p at 32¾p, from neutral to buy while moving Bovis Homes, unchanged on 370½p, from underperform to neutral.
Shares generally managed to claw back yesterday's losses despite a number of blue-chips going ex-dividend. The FTSE 100 index rose 54.5 to 4303.0. Mining shares led the way higher after shrugging off their recent lethargy. Bid target Anglo American put on 49p at 1812½p while potential suitor Xstrata added 15¼p at 672½p. Xstrata has already seen its preliminary approach rejected by the Anglo board. Antofagasta added 10p at 597½p while Vedanta Resources jumped 52p to 1340p.
Logistics specialist Wincanton idled at 194¼p despite having won a £40 million, three-year contract to manage and deliver goods for the Argos retail chain. Goldman Sachs has repeated its neutral rating on Yell, ½p cheaper at 25¾p, following yesterday's profits warning, but has slashed its target price by almost half from 60p to 32p.
On AIM, Freedom4 Group returned from suspension 0.9p higher at 4.08p following publication of the company's admission document New York shares slumped to their lowest in a month after investors had to digest more disappointing economic news. The Dow closed down 82.38 points at 8447. Shares traded within a narrow range for much of the session although turnover was hit by the latest consumer confidence survey. Even so, the market has enjoyed its best quarter since 2003, which must bring some cheer to hard-pressed investors looking forward to Friday's Independence Day celebrations.
In Tokyo, earlier gains were pared back despite the central bank's quarterly Tankan survey showing a small improvement in corporate sentiment. This suggests the world's second-largest economy is crawling rather than sprinting out of recession. The Nikkei 225 closed down 18.51 points at 9939.93.
The Tankan's most-watched index, which measures confidence at major manufacturers, rose to minus 48 from minus 58 in March, its worst reading on record.
The figure represents the percentage of companies saying business conditions are good minus those saying they are bad. The lower the number, the greater the pessimism.
The results were a touch worse than expected but still fell within tolerable levels, pointing toward a gradual economic recovery. Industrial production in Japan has bounced back in recent months.
Trading houses slipped after the fall in the oil price, and commodities were broadly sold on a stronger dollar yesterday. Mitsui lost 1.1% to 1134 yen, Marubeni fell 1.2% to 423 yen and Itochu slipped 1% to 665 yen.
Advantest, which makes semiconductor-testing equipment, climbed 3.3% to 1808 yen after Credit Suisse raised its rating on the firm to neutral from underperform and lifted its 12-month target price to 2000 yen from 620.
Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday to mark China's takeover of the former colony 12 years ago.
