Sector movers: Cyclicals pace gains

Cyclicals led to the upside on Wednesday, driven mostly by stock-specific news around the likes of Sky and Smiths Group.

Shares in the media outfit were sent flying as analysts at Exane BNP weighed in, labelling it as their preferred TV play in the UK.

“We argue Sky can deliver sustainable mid-single digit organic revenue growth for the medium term through a combination of pricing power and innovation.

“Sky’s track record on innovation and market segmentation is strong and Sky Q, mobile, NOW TV, Sky Store and further triple play penetration can drive attractive growth,” they said in a research note sent to clients.

Smiths Group lifted General Industrials with its latest set of full-year financials.

Phoenix Group arguably gave a boost to all European markets after announcing it had decided to make the most of Deutsche Bank's current troubles, picking up Abbey Life for £935m in cash.

Uncharacteristically for the firm carrying out the acquisition, its stock duly rose, as did that in the German lender.

Heading the other way, Royal Mail weighed on the Industrial Transportation space, as analysts judged that Deutsche Post's purchase of UK Mail might signal that pricing pressures were about to enter a second round.

Sainsburys was unwanted after it reported a drop in like-for-like sales in the second quarter, blaming industry-wide falling food prices.

Total retail sales fell 0.4% in the 16 weeks to 24 September, with like-for-like retail sales including VAT but excluding fuel down 1.1%.

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 1,616.17 +4.46%
Media 7,631.02 +1.64%
General Industrials 5,236.92 +1.52%
Life Insurance 7,051.91 +1.50%
Construction & Materials 6,289.94 +1.34%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Industrial Transportation 3,008.99 -1.43%
Food & Drug Retailers 2,810.18 -0.47%
Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,921.43 -0.16%
Banks 3,543.87 -0.14%
Alternative Energy 0.00 0.00%