Sector movers: BHP leads the miners

22nd Feb 2011 15:23

The miners are providing a lift to the market today, with sector giant BHP Billiton among the blue chips rising higher.The company bolstered its oil and gas operations after the $4.75bn acquisition of Chesapeake Energy's Fayetteville shale assets.Mining peers Rio Tinto, African Barrick Gold, Anglo American and Vedanta Resources are also wanted.The aerospace and defence sector is the worst performing sector, dragged lower by defence firm Cobham.Cobham announced yesterday that it sold its Engineering Consultancy Group to management backed by a private equity fund for a cash consideration of £13.5m.Top performing sectors so far todayMining 26,643.61 +1.31%Electricity 7,494.38 +1.08%Industrial Transportation 2,630.82 +0.99%Chemicals 6,779.57 +0.81%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 24,576.88 +0.46%Bottom performing sectors so far todayAerospace and Defence 3,323.92 -2.07%Forestry & Paper 5,805.76 -1.37%Construction & Materials 4,256.73 -1.26%Household Goods & Home Construction 6,237.21 -1.24%Electronic & Electrical Equipment 2,900.96 -1.21%