How construction fared in the City this week
There were signs last week of some young buds of recovery among contractors and housebuilders on the stock exchange.

First up was better news for Carillion, which was rocked last month by a profit warning and a two-month delay to its Nottingham tram scheme, which will cost £10m. Chief executive John McDonough reacted swiftly to the setback with a management restructuring.

The firm was further boosted by a coup in the health sector last week, when it become preferred bidder for a £1bn hospital in Portsmouth (as reported above). The contractor's shares ended the week up 3p to 154p.

There was also a better showing from some of the big housebuilders. Up-market Berkeley reached a year-high last week – up 13p to 817p.

There were also increases for Wimpey, plus 2.25p to 317.5p, and Redrow, up 12.5p to 316p.

On the support services side, outsourcing group Capita were up 4.5p to 239.5p after posting impressive half-year results.

The group's pre-tax profit jumped more than 25% to £51.1m for the six months to 30 June. Turnover grew 36% to £532m. Last month the consultancy arm of Capita predicted that it would double turnover in the next two years.