Sector movers: BP lifts oil stocks

27th Oct 2009 12:50

Oil stocks are gushing higher after BP kicked off the oil majors results season on Tuesday with third quarter figures that showed a smaller than feared drop in profits.Profit attributable to shareholders came to $5.34bn between July and September from $8.05bn in the third quarter last year.Replacement cost profit fell to $4.98m compared with $10.03m twelve month ago.Despite recovering throughout the year, oil prices are still not at the inflated levels seen last year, while gas prices have remained weak. However, analysts expected income to tumble even more, to just over $3bn.BP is up nearly 5%. Shares in fellow oil giant BG Group, whose third quarter results are out tomorrow, are also higher. Banking stocks are lower amid nervousness over an announcement from the European Commission on state aid. Dutch bank ING recently announced that it was splitting into two to appease European regulators. RBS and Lloyds, which like ING received state aid, are lower.Top performing sectors so far todayOil & Gas Producers 8,250.73 +2.36%Food & Drug Retailers 4,571.79 +2.07%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 8,513.86 +1.97%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,030.38 +1.85%Electricity 6,191.81 +1.53%Bottom performing sectors so far todayBanks 4,888.48 -2.07%General Financial 5,307.51 -1.80%Automobiles & Parts 2,672.41 -1.72%Construction & Materials 3,496.24 -1.43%Industrial Transportation 1,943.04 -1.28%