The collapse of Monarch Airlines led to a rise in airline shares as investors expected them to benefit from the removal of a competitor.In early trade, EasyJet shares rose 4.6%, Ryanair added 3.3% and British Airways owner IAG was up 2.2%.EasyJet was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100, with the benchmark share index up 22.49 points at 7,395.25.Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said Monarch’s failure was “good news for rivals”.”It means fewer seats to fill sector-wide – more than 6 million in the case of Monarch. This should mean Ryanair and EasyJet can comfortably improve load factors, even if the reputation of the former has suffered of late. This should be positive for margins despite pricing pressures.”The other area to see notable gains was the housebuilding sector, after Theresa May’s pledge at the weekend that the government would find an extra £10bn for the Help to Buy scheme.Shares in Bovis Homes, Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Bellway were all up by more than 3% on the news.On the currency markets, the pound was down 0.5% against the dollar at $1.3331 but rose 0.1% against the euro to 1.1354 euros.
Source: BBC News