Most people in the City shrugged their shoulders in reaction to Monday鈥檚 pre-Budget report.

Prices rallied slightly in advance of the report and although most construction stocks ended the day up a few per cent, by Tuesday trading screens were largely red again.

Howard Seymour, an analyst at Numis, pointed out that the 拢3bn of public spending chancellor Alistair Darling has brought forward on highways, education and social housing was less than 5% of construction output.

He said: 鈥淲e calculate 50% of it will be refurbishment-related, so we see no major beneficiaries or implications for activity.鈥�

It was even more underwhelming for housebuilders, with little new news since September鈥檚 housing package.

As Taylor Wimpey鈥檚 share price slipped worryingly towards the 4p mark on Tuesday, a source close to talks between the company and its lenders continued the war of understatement the housebuilder began when it called progress on a refinancing deal 鈥渁 tad disappointing鈥�. According to the source, the delay had made TW 鈥渁 bit grumpy鈥� 鈥� a lot politer than the reality, no doubt.