Sector movers: Defensives lead gains, HL drops on Guardian report

Mobile telecoms and consumer staples paced gains in the market on Tuesday, with shares of Vodafone spearheading gains after promising shareholders it was set to generate considerably greater free cash flow next year.

Vodafone said free cash flow in 2017/18 would reach €5bn up from €4.1bn the year before and well ahead of analysts' forecasts calling for €4.66bn.

FCF, which strips out the accounting impact of purely financial charges and one-off gains is considered by many analysts as a much better guide to a company's performance that profits before tax, or 'accounting profits'.

Fixed line telecoms operators such as BT Group and TalkTalk also shared in the gains, alongside other defensives issues from the beverages and tobacco sectors.

Hargreaves Lansdown and Henderson Group accounted for weakness in the financial services space.

According to The Guardian, US fund manager Vanguard was set to lower the fees it charges smaller retail investors to half the UK average, undercutting its rivals HL and Fidelity Funds Network.

Top performing sectors so far today

Mobile Telecommunications 4,952.15 +3.82%
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,186.13 +2.40%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 3,568.59 +2.04%
Beverages 18,666.53 +1.91%
Tobacco 60,735.00 +1.82%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Software & Computer Services 2,085.26 -0.71%
Financial Services 10,528.48 -0.64%
Forestry & Paper 21,984.34 -0.10%
Insurance (non-life) 2,963.69 -0.06%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 6,009.01 -0.02%