Sector movers: Investors take some profits among lenders and aerospace firms
Banking and Aerospace issues were at the bottom of the pile on Thursday as concerns around the ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on both sides of the Atlantic appeared to reassert themselves.
Linked to the above, in remarks made at the ECB Forum, US Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, said it was "too soon" to gauge the impact that Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine might have on the Covid-19 pandemic.
Powell also reiterated the importance of the US Congress passing a new fiscal stimulus package.
Against that backdrop, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Gilt was under pressure, slipping by six basis points to 0.35%, and hence so too were lenders' shares.
In a similar fashion, investors in Aerospace and Defence paused for breath following a sharp rally over the preceding three sessions.
Hence the dip in shares of BAE Systems despite a slightly stronger outlook for 2020 earnings.
Meggitt meanwhile took a hit on the back of a downgrade from Citi to 'neutral'.
"Following the share price surge on the back of positive news on a Covid-19 vaccine, we now see
limited further upside," the broker said.
"Although consensus EBIT will need to come up, we believe that recommendation upgrades are likely more limited. We open a negative 30-day catalyst watch as we believe the shares will settle lower as the dust settles."
Top performing sectors so far today
Support Services 9,956.85 +1.18%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 1,504.98 +1.17%
Leisure Goods 25,091.39 +1.11%
Mobile Telecommunications 2,718.03 +0.93%
Tobacco 28,937.62 +0.77%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,987.57 -11.27%
Banks 2,363.91 -2.74%
Forestry & Paper 18,980.14 -2.23%
Aerospace and Defence 3,330.70 -1.87%
Chemicals 13,061.38 -1.80%