Sector movers: Anglo American leads miners higher

Anglo American led the mining sector higher on the back of its latest production report showing increased diamond, nickel and iron ore output and lower copper in-line with expectations, with full-year guidance mostly reiterated.

Chief executive Mark Cutifani said operational improvements across the portfolio were the main reason for the healthy report, with a 4% production increase on a copper equivalent basis in the third quarter.

Acting as a backdrop, January futures for coking coal in China reached a high of 1,288 yuan a tonne, for a 4% gain, while the most heavily traded rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange hit a two-month high of 2,568 yuan a tonne at one point during the session.

In parallel, iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose by 6%, the maximum daily limit allowed, to 471.50 yuan a tonne, their best mark since August 2014.

Heading in the other direction was technology hardware after UBS downgraded its view on Laird to neutral with a 171p target.

Aerospace and automotive engineering group GKN weighed on its sector after issuing a trading update for the nine months to 30 September on Tuesday, which showed sales increasing 21% to £6.9bn, including organic sales growth of 2% - or £151m - in line with expectations.

The FTSE 100 company said sales in the automotive businesses continued to perform well against the market and the aerospace division grew in line with expectations, though the land systems markets remained tough.

Top performing sectors so far today
Mining 13,792.57 +3.18%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,458.66 +3.15%
Mobile Telecommunications 5,084.47 +1.77%
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,070.20 +1.50%
Oil & Gas Producers 7,979.50 +0.72%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,055.99 -5.07%
Automobiles & Parts 7,399.98 -2.07%
Industrial Engineering 9,862.57 -0.70%
Food & Drug Retailers 3,096.09 -0.59%
General Retailers 2,494.42 -0.55%