Sector movers: Resources stocks fired up by trade detente

Natural resources companies were the standout gainers on Monday, while defensive stocks including telecoms, drugs and food were in the red.

Miners, Antofagasta, Anglo, Glencore, BHP and Rio Tinto were all trading higher, after a trade ceasefire agreed between the US and China over the weekend after a "high steaks" lunch meeting in Buenos Aires.

Given the underperformance of Chinese shares this year and Europe’s sensitivity to the Asian superpower, mixed with the prospect of typical end-of-year bargain hunting, is one reason why the sea of green spread to both sides of the Atlantic and that Treasury yields failed to hold onto early increase, said market analyst Ken Odeluga at City Index. He also noted that mining, metal industries, European banks and car makers have surged with investors "looking to correct deep underperformance" in 2018.

Energy-related stocks, including BP, Shell, Premier Oil and Tullow Oil, were firmer as oil prices surged after seven weeks of declines and an over 30% fall peak to trough from the four-year high. Sparking the surge were the improving Sino-US relations, boosted by speculation that Russia and Saudi Arabia may have agreed some production cuts and uncertainty as Qatar pulled out of the OPEC producers' cartel. West Texas Intermediate and Brent were up more than 4% in early trade but by late afternoon were up 2.8% to $52.34 a barrel and 2.4% at $60.94 respectively.

"The departure of Qatar from OPEC is unlikely to materially alter the dynamics of how the cartel operates, however it does give an insight into the uneasy politics such alliances bring to bear," said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets. "Given its treatment in the last few months by its peers it would appear that Qatari leaders feel that there is little upside in being in an organisation that does nothing to represent its interests."

Meanwhile, telecoms companies, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology and food producers were among the sectors at the bottom of the pile.

Top performing sectors so far today

Industrial Metals & Mining 4,561.33 +8.80%
Mining 17,063.40 +5.42%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 13,197.02 +5.05%
Leisure Goods 7,931.47 +4.78%
Forestry & Paper 20,043.98 +4.15%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,949.91 -2.59%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 14,793.32 -2.35%
Industrial Transportation 2,389.40 -1.85%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,009.56 -1.23%
Food Producers & Processors 7,213.89 -0.95%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,058.50 1.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,572.68 0.50%
techMARK (TASX) 3,487.08 -0.26%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Evraz (EVR) 487.60p 7.38%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 857.20p 7.10%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,659.80p 5.98%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,589.00p 5.82%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 670.80p 5.64%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 771.50p 4.40%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,836.00p 4.38%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,848.50p 4.05%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,212.00p 4.05%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,702.50p 4.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,499.54p -7.53%
Kingfisher (KGF) 242.50p -3.00%
BT Group (BT.A) 255.25p -2.58%
Next (NXT) 4,809.00p -1.88%
ITV (ITV) 142.85p -1.62%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 261.55p -1.45%
3i Group (III) 821.60p -1.44%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 288.70p -1.37%
Royal Mail (RMG) 315.60p -1.31%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 752.00p -1.10%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 619.50p 14.30%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 188.30p 7.42%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 586.40p 6.39%
Capita (CPI) 109.45p 5.95%
Premier Oil (PMO) 74.40p 5.31%
Spectris (SXS) 2,516.00p 5.10%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 193.65p 5.02%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,170.00p 4.45%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,537.00p 4.27%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 207.47p 4.05%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 23.92p -20.54%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,550.00p -15.12%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 176.30p -10.78%
Kier Group (KIE) 456.90p -10.06%
RPC Group (RPC) 675.00p -5.83%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 117.00p -5.80%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,641.00p -4.81%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 100.24p -4.53%
Keller Group (KLR) 565.00p -3.58%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,280.00p -3.39%