Sector movers: Big Oil, Pharma pace gains in mixed session

FTSE 350 stocks ended on a mixed note as U.S. consumer price data for September came in slightly ahead of forecasts.

That served to push longer-term government bond yields on either side of the Atlantic higher, which in turn weighed on interest rate-sensitive areas of the market including Construction and REITs.

Big Oil however kept the top-flight index in the green as did gains in the pharmaceuticals sector, with the latter traditionally being a defensive play.

However, cyclicals such as Software also did well, as did Defensives.

Of interest, in the background, some market observers were musing out loud on Thursday regarding whether investors had sufficiently priced in the worst geopolitical scenarios for the Middle East.

Risks of an oil price surge were one potential weak spot according to those observers, although they believed that Defence stocks might in fact benefit from higher military spending going forwards.

Top performing sectors so far today

Oil, Gas and Coal 9,208.55 +1.88%

Leisure Goods 25,023.96 +1.61%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 21,331.08 +1.12%

Software & Computer Services 2,182.67 +0.98%

Aerospace and Defence 7,411.70 +0.81%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Chemicals 8,497.55 -1.78%

Household Goods & Home Construction 10,500.02 -1.70%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,030.97 -1.36%

Travel & Leisure 6,796.89 -1.28%

Construction & Materials 8,048.59 -1.02%