Sector movers: Miners hammered as stronger dollar hits metals prices

5th Jul 2013 15:10

Mining and metals stocks were under heavy selling pressure on Friday afternoon following a much better-than-expected US jobs report, as a stronger dollar dampened the price of metals across the board.Gold futures for August delivery on Comex were down 3.32% at a one-week low of $1,210.30 an ounce, as the dollar index surged to a three-year high.With an impressive 195,000 non-farm payrolls added to the US economy in June - well ahead of the 165,000 forecast - and previous months' numbers being revised higher, the Federal Reserve is now widely expected to start scaling back its stimulus programme as early as September.Silver was also at a one-week low with contracts for three-month delivery down 4.72% at $18.77 an ounce, while copper fell 3.65% to $3.06 a pound."Copper prices and gold prices have been absolutely crushed today in the wake of the resurgent US dollar with gold prices being hurt by the speculation about imminent tapering," said Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Glencore Xstrata, Randgold Resources, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vedanta were registering heavy falls by afternoon trade on the FTSE 100.Second-tier peers Hochschild Mining, Kazakhmys, Polymetal and Lonmin were also firmly in the red.One mining firm that was bucking the trend was Centamin as shares were lifted by ongoing developments in Egypt - where its only producing mine Sukari is located - following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi by the army.Centamin has been involved in a legal dispute regarding the validity of its Sukari licence with Egypt's administrative court since the government came into power.Top performing sectors so far todayFood & Drug Retailers 4,412.36 +1.06%Health Care Equipment & Services 4,282.60 +0.98%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 22,740.68 +0.77%Banks 4,957.43 +0.62%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 11,442.78 +0.58%Bottom performing sectors so far todayMining 14,257.67 -3.40%Industrial Metals & Mining 1,193.04 -1.69%Construction & Materials 3,647.00 -1.40%Industrial Engineering 9,333.68 -0.89%General Industrials 3,893.24 -0.82%