Sector movers: Oil engineers up as investors get Wood Group

Oil equipment and services stood out on Tuesday on the back of a strong set of results for John Wood Group.

Shares in the energy services group rose more than 8% and carried peers such as Hunting, Petrofac and Weir on the rising tide.

In spite of the company reporting a loss, with half-year earnings falling by 1.5% due to $33m in exceptional cash costs to deliver the integration synergies and restructuring after last year's merger with Amec Foster Wheeler, revenue was up directors increased their three-year cost synergy target from at least $170m to at least $210m. Organic revenue growth helped lift revenue 13.4% to $5.38bn, helped by the recovery in the oil price that has boosted clients' spending.

Investors focused on positives, like the fact that earnings were at the top of the guidance range, said analyst Artjom Hatsaturjants at Accendo Markets, or that the M&A integration programme is proceeding ahead of schedule, though this was of no relevance to its sector peers.

More relevant was a $10.6bn order book, giving a clear outlook for the rest of the year, along with comments from chief executive Robin Watson that the group was "seeing recovery in our core oil & gas market and good contract awards in broader industrial sectors".

One industrial engineer was not enjoying Tuesday as much, with heat treatment and thermal processing services specialist Bodycote under the cosh after being downgraded to 'sell' by analysts at Panmure Gordon.

Mining was the sector acting as the main weight on the market, led by BHP Billiton. The world's biggest miner declared a record final dividend as higher prices and volumes sent underlying annual profit up by a third. Underlying profit for the year to 30 June rose by a third to $8.9bn, but this was below the $9.25bn consensus analyst forecast.

The strong dollar, weak Chinese data and concerns about emerging markets have weighed on the shares of BHP and other miners in recent days, though the greenback was wobbling after President Trump weighed in with his opinions on currency markets. Moreover, BHP was joined by the likes of Rio Tinto and Antofagasta in the red, despite copper prices climbing. Glencore was marginally in the green.

Top performing sectors so far today

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 14,698.90 +5.58%

Leisure Goods 8,592.43 +1.92%

Life Insurance 8,274.60 +0.68%

Food & Drug Retailers 4,304.92 +0.65%

General Retailers 2,409.62 +0.62%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Mining 16,722.44 -0.57%

Tobacco 46,752.51 -0.55%

Travel & Leisure 10,048.75 -0.43%

Beverages 22,277.48 -0.41%

Automobiles & Parts 10,748.96 -0.37%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,591.19 -0.00%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,639.04 0.53%
techMARK (TASX) 3,557.79 0.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 269.20p 2.05%
Kingfisher (KGF) 274.50p 1.59%
Centrica (CNA) 147.05p 1.55%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 338.80p 1.29%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,072.50p 1.27%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 752.80p 1.13%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 246.50p 1.07%
WPP (WPP) 1,311.00p 1.00%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 320.90p 0.94%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,053.00p 0.93%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Compass Group (CPG) 1,682.50p -1.52%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 2,168.00p -1.50%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,427.50p -1.11%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,629.20p -0.97%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,748.00p -0.88%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,685.50p -0.86%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,332.00p -0.85%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,097.00p -0.72%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 920.00p -0.65%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,232.00p -0.62%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 707.80p 7.02%
Aggreko (AGK) 876.40p 4.06%
Rank Group (RNK) 170.60p 4.02%
SIG (SHI) 126.00p 3.19%
BCA Marketplace (BCA) 234.00p 3.08%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,959.75p 2.98%
Elementis (ELM) 266.80p 2.69%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 122.91p 2.68%
Capita (CPI) 142.45p 2.63%
Softcat (SCT) 854.00p 2.40%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,090.12p -4.38%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 277.50p -3.98%
Indivior (INDV) 262.70p -3.17%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 83.40p -1.94%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,630.00p -1.57%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 364.50p -1.46%
CYBG (CYBG) 343.40p -1.44%
Bodycote (BOY) 1,004.00p -1.28%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 2,946.00p -1.27%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 544.50p -1.27%