Portfolio

Sector movers: Resources drive FTSE 100

By Oliver Haill

Date: Monday 18 Mar 2019

(Sharecast News) - Resources companies and grocers were providing fuel for the FTSE 100 on Monday, though the mid-cap index was running on empty, led by auto industry and industrial engineers.
Oil engineers were the leading sector, though there was little movement in oil prices as the OPEC oil producers' cartel cancelled its April meeting, leaving the current status quo of output cuts in place until June.

Miners were among the standout gainers as copper prices rose, with Rio, BHP, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all higher. Glencore investors shrugged off reports that its offices in Mumbai have been raided by the Indian competition regulator as part of an investigation into alleged price fixing.

Sainsbury's, Ocado, Tesco and Marks & Spencer were among the top risers. General retailers were more mixed, though Next, Kingfisher, B&M and JD Sports were all in the green.

Market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets noted that Sainsbury was moving higher on the day senior management met with the Competition and Markets Authority, for the first time since the regulator ruled against the Asda merger.

"The CMA's rather dubious view was that the merger would lead to higher prices. Sainsbury management have pushed back on that as well as arguing that Marks and Spencer misled the regulator about its upcoming deal with Ocado, when it said it had no plans to evolve its on line delivery operations, only weeks before the announcement of the deal was made."

Ocado is scheduled to have a trading statement on Tuesday.

Data on consumer confidence from IHS Markit was not helpful, with a report on Monday showing households were more worried about their current finances and have cut back on major purchases in the run up to Brexit. Household sentiment has fallen the lowest level since February last year.

The auto sector was hitting the brakes amid research showing car parts manufacturers are considering relocating out of the UK amid uncertainty over the future of the industry in Britain. Around two thirds of suppliers are thinking about moving work overseas, a study of 300 firms found.

Aston Martin Lagonda also fell as analysts at Jefferies cut their price target on the stock.



Top performing sectors so far today

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 11,926.80 +2.78%

Food & Drug Retailers 3,936.06 +2.49%

Industrial Metals & Mining 5,984.32 +2.47%

Mining 19,226.34 +2.11%

Tobacco 36,552.61 +2.07%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Automobiles & Parts 6,219.57 -4.66%

Industrial Engineering 12,001.27 -1.20%

Construction & Materials 5,719.69 -0.58%

Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,138.91 -0.41%

Electronic & Electrical Equipment 7,328.26 -0.38%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,292.13 0.88%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,466.11 -0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 3,548.46 0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 234.20p 4.65%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,810.00p 2.87%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,268.50p 2.83%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,766.40p 2.78%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,151.00p 2.58%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,154.45p 2.43%
Tesco (TSCO) 234.85p 2.38%
Evraz (EVR) 632.80p 2.33%
3i Group (III) 967.80p 1.96%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 275.50p 1.92%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 5,860.00p -1.43%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 541.73p -1.25%
Just Eat (JE.) 734.20p -1.13%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 7,000.00p -1.13%
Informa (INF) 720.70p -1.06%
Whitbread (WTB) 5,062.00p -1.02%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,246.50p -0.99%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,167.00p -0.91%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,632.00p -0.90%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,947.00p -0.85%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hunting (HTG) 569.50p 4.02%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 270.90p 3.36%
AJ Bell (AJB) 308.90p 3.21%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 595.20p 3.12%
Greene King (GNK) 672.00p 3.07%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 209.00p 2.70%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 195.85p 2.70%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 236.10p 2.30%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 206.40p 2.28%
Playtech (PTEC) 429.60p 1.99%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Senior (SNR) 207.00p -5.82%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,096.40p -5.58%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 120.00p -4.67%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,500.00p -4.21%
Kier Group (KIE) 482.60p -3.96%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 431.80p -3.42%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 200.10p -2.84%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 751.75p -2.62%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 239.55p -2.62%
Genus (GNS) 2,392.00p -2.45%

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