Sector movers: Miners hit by lower commodity prices

17th Jun 2009 15:23

A sharp turn around in commodity prices has seen the mining sector go into reverse as profit-taking on the rises of the last few weeks starts to kick in.Elsewhere in the sector, China has warned Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton that merging their Pilbara, Australia iron ore operations has "a strong monopolistic flavour". BHP-Rio together would account for 80% of Australia's exports of the ore, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman said this week. China is a huge importer of iron ore. "The potential deal has an obvious colour of monopoly. The joint venture is likely to have a big impact on the Chinese steel industry as China is the world's biggest iron ore importer," said Chen Yanhai, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).Mobile Telecommunications stocks are going well. Satellite operator Avanti Communications has welcomed the government's plans to impose a charge to fund the development of fast broadband services to rural communities. "Satellite broadband is the only technically proven and economically viable solution to the problem of the 10% of population identified by the Digital Britain report and we welcome the announcement that the provision of service to these consumers will be accelerated by government intervention and funding, which we expect to benefit our HYLAS satellite," said Avanti chief executive David Williams.Top performing sectors so far todayMobile Telecommunications 2,705.89 +2.42%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 7,751.97 +2.01%Aerospace and Defence 2,460.73 +1.72%Fixed Line Telecommunications 1,559.95 +1.39%Health Care Equipment & Services 2,520.48 +0.80%Bottom performing sectors so far todayAutomobiles & Parts 1,929.15 -8.08%Industrial Metals 4,071.87 -6.85%Mining 13,715.81 -6.36%Industrial Transportation 1,566.46 -4.55%Chemicals 3,171.09 -3.98%