Sector movers: Big Oil, Banks weigh most

Industrial Metals & Mining topped the leaderboard thanks to an ongoing bounce in Evraz´s shares, although some brokers were skeptical regarding the chances for the global overhang in steel supply to be resolved any time soon.

Commenting on the initiative put in place the day before at the G-20 summit in Hangzhou to create a watchdog for the market, analysts at Macquarie said: "As we noted last year , it is rare for supply adjustments to drive a sustainable recovery in commodity markets on their own.

"Rather, aiding demand growth is arguably the way in which governments can actually exert more influence, as proven by the China-led recovery this year. We reiterate our view that on the current path of protectionism and low interest rates the global steel industry problems may never be adequately solved. Indeed, discussions on addressing the problems in other industries, such as capital goods, would perhaps be a better strategy."

To take note of perhaps, some market commentary was to be seen referencing expectations for Chinese steel mills to replenish their stocks of iron ore ahead of a seasonal pick-up in demand linked to construction spending.

Food & Drug Retailers received a boost after the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium showing a 0.9% in food sales for the three months to August, the strongest reading since December 2013.

Big Oil skidded lower on somewhat contradictory reports regarding Iran´s openness, or not, to an agreement between the world´s major oil producers to freeze their output.

Nonetheless, late in the afternoon Reuters cited Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari, director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, as having said that Iran would be ready to negotiate its level of production as soon as production recovers to its pre-sanction volumes.

Shares in the main High Street banking groups also lent their weight to Tuesday´s falls, to an extent mimicking a retreat in financials on the other side of the Pond.

StanChart fared worst following a downgrade out of Barclays from 'equalweight' to 'underweight'.

The lender´s valuation was overshooting its earnings power, the broker said, but nevertheless lifted its target price from 500p to 520p.

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 1,316.77 +1.98%
Forestry & Paper 17,083.37 +1.73%
General Industrials 5,393.75 +0.83%
Food & Drug Retailers 2,764.61 +0.69%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,495.70 +0.59%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Oil & Gas Producers 7,078.22 -1.28%
Personal Goods 31,176.94 -0.80%
Electricity 9,041.79 -0.74%
Mobile Telecommunications 5,072.05 -0.71%
Banks 3,651.17 -0.64%