Sector movers: Autos&Parts and Personal goods pace gains on hopes for Ukraine peace, China stimulus
Automobile & Parts continued to be buffeted by the headlines coming out of Ukraine, although in this case to the upside.
Overnight, Russian and Ukrainian officials all appeared to indicate that a deal was indeed possible, even when not certain.
Case in point, the Financial Times reported that the two sides had drafted a 15-point peace plan that included a declaration of neutrality by Ukraine, a cease-fire, the departure of Russian troops and security guarantees for Kyiv.
Earlier, S&P Global Mobility had downgraded its forecasts for global light vehicle production for 2022 and 2023 by 2.6m units each.
Burberry Group helped Personal Goods to the top of the leaderboard after China’s Vice Premier, Liu He, said that Beijing will roll out more measures to boost the Chinese economy as well as favourable policy steps for capital markets.
Life insurance also fared well on Wednesday, as the break in the geopolitical clouds saw longer-term government bond yields jump on both sides of the Pond.
At one point during the session, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note hit an intra-session high of 2.25%.
Going the other way, defensive sectors were all on the back foot, alongside dips for Aerospace and Defence, and Oil and Gas.
Top performing sectors so far today
Personal Goods 29,601.29 +6.69%
Automobiles & Parts 2,581.32 +6.14%
Life Insurance 6,912.65 +4.15%
Beverages 27,307.05 +4.05%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 9,641.55 +4.01%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 6,121.32 -2.64%
Aerospace and Defence 4,501.37 -1.91%
Electricity 10,253.76 -1.63%
Precious Metals and Mining 11,681.76 -1.32%
Oil, Gas and Coal 6,546.54 -1.25%