Sector movers: BT lifts telecoms

16th Jun 2009 11:32

Fixed line telecommunications has been given a boost with BT topping the risers after broker Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" and increased its price target. "We see a 3-4 year target for the shares of around 190 pence, but the market could get there far sooner if it sees evidence of execution," said Morgan Stanley.Food and drug retailers surged after Tesco said UK like-for-like sales growth came in at the top end of expectations, helped by a resumption of growth in non-food sales. Excluding petrol and VAT, LFL sales in the UK in the 13 weeks to the end of May rose 4.3% compared to a year earlier. Analysts had been predicting an improvement of between 3.5% and 4.3%. Miners are trying to weigh the market lower with Lonmin, Xstrata, Anglo American, Eurasian Natural Resources and BHP Billiton all down.Top performing sectors so far todayFixed Line Telecommunications 1,498.05 +2.83%Food & Drug Retailers 4,197.20 +1.55%Mobile Telecommunications 2,637.10 +1.40%Beverages 6,070.27 +1.36%Food Producers & Processors 3,679.41 +1.12%Bottom performing sectors so far todayForestry & Paper 2,210.82 -3.30%Industrial Metals 4,364.52 -2.51%Automobiles & Parts 2,047.50 -2.44%Mining 14,456.85 -2.15%Oil Equipment Services & Distribution 12,351.97 -1.59%