Sector movers: Oil and Gas buoyed by speculation about changes in China Covid rules

Oil and Gas shares lent their heft to Thursday's gains, possibly on the back of a report that Beijing was mulling whether to ease Covid-19 rules.

According to Bloomberg, officials in China were debating if quarantine times for international visitors should be shortened.

If approved, any changes might be included in the next set of the country's Covid protocols which were expected to be released soon.

As an aside, the Greenback gave back some ground against the yuan on Thursday.

Precious Metals and Mining was also on the up, boosted by a positive update out of Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin.

The outfit reported a rise in third quarter revenues thanks to higher production, supporting its full-year guidance.

Defensives including Pharma and Utilities headed lower against the backdrop of a less cautious mood in markets.

"Hints that the Fed might be closer to the end of its hiking programme than the beginning have added to the more positive atmosphere this afternoon," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"It looks like investors remain content to pay attention to good news and put less weight on bad for the time being, and with sentiment still in the doldrums it seems fairly easy to create the groundwork for more short-term gains. Having swung so far in one direction, the pendulum is swinging back in favour of risk assets, at least until the next Fed meeting."

Top performing sectors so far today

Precious Metals and Mining 9,232.99 +4.23%

Automobiles & Parts 1,189.21 +2.66%

Real Estate Investment & Services 1,964.09 +2.33%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,095.52 +2.33%

Oil, Gas and Coal 8,053.17 +1.81%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Telecommunications Service Providers 2,436.48 -2.13%

Beverages 27,458.31 -1.43%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 18,484.56 -1.22%

Electricity 8,936.79 -0.97%

Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,983.74 -0.72%