Sector movers: Rising US dollar drags on miners, oil majors

Miners were the main drag on the stock market in the middle of the week, adding to the previous session's losses as strength in the Greenback continued to weigh on commodity prices.

By Wednesday evening, the US dollar spot index had added 0.36% to 104.55, while May copper futures on COMEX were off by 1.09% to $4.1660/lb..

Precious metals and crude oil futures were lower alongside.

"Expectations of ‘higher for longer’ in US interest rates mean that commodity prices have continued to tumble, and this has seen the FTSE 100 reverse some of its stratospheric performance," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"If, as seems likely, stocks struggle for the time being, then the FTSE seems set to trim more of its gains, with commodity weakness remaining a key driver. But the index still has plenty of ground to make up, and if the global economy does avoid a hard landing then the FTSE’s makeup puts it in a good place for more gains.”

Worth noting, much stronger-than-expected survey data released the day before had seen Fed funds futures price out the possibility of interest rate cuts in 2023.

Investors were also reacting to company-specific news as Rio Tinto axed its final dividend by half to $2.25 after reporting a 38% drop in full-year profits $13.3bn.

As regarded Big Oil, analysts at Morgan Stanley lowered their Brent crude oil price forecasts for 2023 and 2024 while rising bond yields meant that the likes of gold and silver lost some of their allure in the eyes of investors.

Top performing sectors so far today

Retailers 3,426.08 +1.48%

Media 10,100.06 +1.29%

Beverages 27,665.90 +0.90%

Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores 4,251.25 +0.74%

Food Producers 6,620.67 +0.59%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Personal Goods 35,231.15 -4.07%

Industrial Metals & Mining 7,540.16 -2.58%

Oil, Gas and Coal 8,747.10 -1.61%

Precious Metals and Mining 10,475.46 -1.47%

Automobiles & Parts 1,583.37 -1.35%