Sector movers: Miners, Big Oil lead to the upside

Cyclicals gained and defensive issues fell back as markets reacted to the results of the latest televised US presidential debate overnight, amid positive news-flow for the commodities space.

Industrial Metals & Mining was again at the top of the leaderboard as rebar futures traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed higher after the week-long holiday in Asia's largest economy.

During the National Day holiday, several cities in the Chinese giant announced new curbs on home purchases and mortgage down payments, but market commentary was still generally upbeat.

Bloomberg, for one, highlighted recent research from Morgan Stanley in which its economists lifted their forecast for the rate of growth in China's gross domestic product in 2016 from 6.4% to 6.7%.

Big Oil was also higher after Russian president Vladimir Putin said his country was ready to join an oil ouput freeze or cut.

His remarks, made on the sidelines of the 23rd World Energy Congress, in Istanbul, sparked a run-up in crude oil futures.

Metals' prices were higher as well, helping to prop up miners. As of 1706 BST December 2016 copper futures were up by 1.34% to $2.1925 a pound on COMEX.

Interest rate sensitive sectors such as REITs and homebuilders were unloved as yields on longer-term Gilts continued to push higher, at least in part due to the continued selling pressure on the pound.

As of 1701 BST the yield on the benchmark 10-year Gilt was up by five basis points to 1.02%.

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,033.76 +4.35%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,085.85 +2.14%
Mining 13,387.68 +1.97%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 17,088.62 +1.97%
Construction & Materials 6,561.39 +1.53%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Real Estate Investment & Services 2,357.53 -1.19%
Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,764.37 -0.68%
Household Goods & Home Construction 16,241.38 -0.59%
Food Producers & Processors 7,789.05 -0.50%
Life Insurance 7,234.71 -0.35%