Sector movers: Investors dig miners, airlines fly lower
Miners, electronics and industrial engineers blazed the trail higher on Monday, while utilities and defensives were left behind.
A clutch of miners, led by BHP, Antofagasta and Glencore, were lifted by increased optimism about China.
Ahead of Chinese vice premier Liu He's trip to Washington this week for another round of trade negotiations, Beijing said it would extend a freeze on retaliatory tariffs on US car exports and add the opioid fentanyl to a list of controlled substances.
Further, Chinese manufacturing data came out overnight ahead of forecasts, although economists appeared somewhat unconvinced by the figures.
Caixin's PMI for March printed at 50.8, versus a reading of just 49.9 for the month before and economists' forecasts for a reading of 50.0. Some market commentary was also highlighting the possibility that seasonal factors, tied to the timing of the Lunar New Year in 2019, might lie behind that strength.
Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics said: "there is now a decent chance that growth in China may bottom out slightly earlier than we had previously anticipated. That said, we still think growth could weaken again in the near-term. The recent trajectory of credit growth still points to a slowdown in the coming months."
The utilities sectors, both gas and water and electricity, were almost universally extending their falls from last week amid reports that political parties were upping preparations for a possible general election. Some investors are worried about the potential for the Labour party to win power and carry out a re-nationalisation of various sectors.
The travel & leisure sector was sharply split, with travel companies mostly in the red after a cautious statement from easyJet, which fell almost 9%. Worrying about parallels, investors also sold of BA owner IAG, Tui, Thomas Cook, On The Beach and Wizz Air.
The budget airline said demand for air travel has weakened because of Brexit and wider economic uncertainty, leading to “softness” in fares per passenger per mile in the UK and Europe, easyJet said. The company said this weakness had made it more cautious about the outlook for the second half.
Analyst George Salmon at Hargreaves Lansdown said: "Higher fuel costs are hitting profits and with Brexit potentially impacting travel regulations and currency markets, customers are understandably waiting for more certainty before booking trips away. The group reckons demand will pick up later in the year, but a more pragmatic observer would say it’s difficult to put a timeframe on when Westminster and the EU 27 will solve the Brexit puzzle.”
Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 6,009.03 +3.75%
Forestry & Paper 19,644.33 +2.77%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 7,268.11 +2.66%
Industrial Engineering 12,155.98 +2.49%
Mining 20,488.81 +2.45%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Electricity 7,006.98 -2.37%
Tobacco 36,318.69 -1.49%
Beverages 24,700.70 -0.98%
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,841.88 -0.96%
Personal Goods 37,505.37 -0.81%
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,317.38 0.52%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,238.76 0.63%
techMARK (TASX) 3,530.20 0.65%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 189.70p 3.58%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 611.60p 3.43%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,912.00p 3.29%
Evraz (EVR) 640.00p 3.16%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,902.40p 2.91%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 993.80p 2.88%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,746.50p 2.86%
WPP (WPP) 836.60p 2.74%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,839.00p 2.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 326.20p 2.59%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,022.50p -8.50%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 713.20p -3.05%
SSE (SSE) 1,155.00p -2.70%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,135.00p -1.85%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 503.52p -1.66%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,945.00p -1.57%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,782.50p -1.22%
Fresnillo (FRES) 858.00p -1.10%
Diageo (DGE) 3,111.00p -1.10%
National Grid (NG.) 842.80p -0.94%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Metro Bank (MTRO) 807.50p 6.53%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 263.20p 6.30%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,629.50p 4.59%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,858.00p 4.59%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 190.00p 3.83%
Investec (INVP) 458.70p 3.71%
John Laing Group (JLG) 394.00p 3.68%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 579.00p 3.58%
Indivior (INDV) 99.48p 3.56%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 215.40p 3.56%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,876.00p -4.45%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 120.00p -3.69%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 361.20p -2.93%
Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE) 280.50p -2.10%
Contour Global (GLO) 169.00p -2.09%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 154.80p -1.89%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 149.40p -1.71%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 116.00p -1.69%
Pennon Group (PNN) 731.00p -1.69%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 439.40p -1.66%