Sector movers: Defensives lead the pack

Defensive issues did best as yields on longer-term Gilts staged a partial retreat ahead of the weekend and after the previous session's sharp Fed-induced jump.

Industrial Metals & Mining was again the top performer, with Big Oil not far behind after OPEC members, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi, told customers they would cut supplies from January as part of the cartel’s deal to limit output.

In parallel, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak told reporters that all Russian oil companies had acquiesced to a production cut.

Goldman Sach's decision to boost its forecasts for the price of oil in 2017 probably also played a hand in the 2.3% bounce seen in Brent crude oil futures to $55.26.

Pharma stock also found a bid as news that French drug giant Sanofi was in advanced talks to acquire Swiss biotech outfit Actelion helped sentiment across the sector.

Tesco was the main drag in the Food and Drug space, while Micro Focus accounted for weakness in Software and Computer Services after analysts at UBS downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ and cut the price target to 2,350p from 2,420p, citing near-term risks.

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,591.20 +2.10%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,225.93 +1.32%
Mobile Telecommunications 4,527.81 +1.02%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,177.48 +0.93%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 13,220.44 +0.82%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Food & Drug Retailers 3,000.94 -1.48%
Software & Computer Services 1,871.40 -1.19%
Household Goods & Home Construction 15,537.90 -1.00%
Mining 14,381.12 -0.65%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,027.43 -0.64%