Sector movers: Aerospace names and precious metals miners pace gains
Aerospace names and Precious Metals Miners performed best on a mixed day for London's main market indices.
Rolls-Royce paced gains among the former after the engineer unveiled its medium-term targets ahead of a capital markets day.
The engine maker said it planned to deliver operating profit of £2.5bn to £2.8bn, an operating margin of 13-15%, free cashflow of between £2.8-3.1bn and a return on capital of 16-18%.
Precious metals miners meanwhile were boosted by dovish sounding remarks from a top U.S. central bank official which served to lift gold prices.
In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, Federal Reserve Governor Christoper Waller said: "The October data I have cited on economic activity and inflation are consistent with the kind of moderating demand and easing price pressure that will help move inflation back to 2 percent, and I will be looking to see that confirmed in upcoming data releases."
On the back of his remarks, the yield on the benchmark two-year U.S. Treasury note was falling back, helping to boost front-dated gold futures up by 1.31% to $2,038.70/oz..
Top performing sectors so far today
Aerospace and Defence 7,871.19 +2.10%
Precious Metals and Mining 9,760.30 +1.93%
General Industrials 6,201.72 +0.93%
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 6,136.11 +0.85%
Retailers 3,641.85 +0.53%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Leisure Goods 26,097.30 -1.79%
Real Estate Investment & Services 2,124.32 -1.70%
Life Insurance 5,987.17 -1.60%
Personal Goods 21,940.00 -1.47%
Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,182.14 -1.02%