UK Halifax June House Prices +0.6% MoM, and 3 month +3.7% YoY both accelerating from previous figures of 0.4% and 2.6% respectively, and above expectations of 0.4% and 3.6%. The YoY pace is the fastest in over 3 years, and is clearly supportive for collateral (Lloyds), construction (builders note TW and RDW today), confidence (FTSE) and consumption (NEXT).
The UK is a standout for us given low multiples on the FTSE 100 (11x), high DY (3.7%) and decent EM ‘exposure’ most of which has already been penalised on the slide from 6800 to 6200. Add in some Carney-mania (apparently he looks like George Clooney, things are getting overheated clearly) and a recovering housing market, jobs market and economy generally and we think there are plenty of opportunities on this side of the pond (as opposed to the other side of the pond where things are trickier given elevated market levels).
Other UK names we like and can talk sensibly on include:
Compass Group, ABF, Home Retail, GSK, BSkyB, Persimmon, Telecity, GKN, Berkeley Group, Hargreaves Lansdown, Catlin Group, Rio Tinto, Aviva, Admiral, Arm, Shire, Hunting, Babcock, Rolls Royce, LSE, Unilever, ITV, Reckitt Benckiser, Mitchell & Butlers, easyJet.
