Sector movers: Construction and A&D lead losses on US political news

Losses for Construction and Aerospace&Defence issues dragged the market lower amid an increasingly raucous dust-up on Capitol Hill.

The common denominator was fears that fresh allegations against US president Donald Trump might undermine the cohesiveness of the Republican party, delaying a much hoped for package of aggressive fiscal stimulus in the world's largest economy.

Hence losses on Wednesday for the likes of CRH, BAE Systems or Ultra Electronics.

Overnight, The New York Times said US president Donald Trump had asked Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey to "let go" of an investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Measures of investors' risk aversion were flashing red across the board as a result, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Gilt diving by six basis points to 1.07% as traders ducked for cover.

Triggering the above reaction, some 'market chatter' also surfaced overnight regarding the increasing risk of impeachment hearings against the US President at some point down the road.

While some analysts said it was still early days to seriously broach that possibility, some traders were clearly speculating on just such a scenario.

Tracking the drop in Gilt yields, life insurance stocks were lower, with Prudential the worst hit in that space.

Electronic and electrical equipment manufacturers were also lower, with instrumentation and controls company Spectris pacing losses in the group despite reporting a 22% increase in its reported sales for the year to 30 April.

Top performing sectors so far today
Household Goods & Home Construction 18,711.91 +1.04%
Electricity 8,646.87 +0.83%
Software & Computer Services 2,100.05 +0.71%
Food & Drug Retailers 2,986.62 +0.70%
Mobile Telecommunications 4,977.04 +0.50%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Construction & Materials 6,840.82 -3.03%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 5,864.08 -2.41%
Life Insurance 8,280.54 -1.86%
Aerospace and Defence 5,220.65 -1.56%
Industrial Engineering 11,472.71 -1.56%