Sector movers: Miners in the red

24th Jun 2010 12:51

The mining sector is in the red today despite some apparently good news for miners exposed to Australia.The mining industry is hoping for a more conciliatory approach from Australia's new prime minister after the increasingly unpopular Kevin Rudd was ousted by Labour Party rivals last night.Rudd was responsible for a planned 'super tax' on the mining sector, much-hated by those with big operations down under who felt they had been unfairly singled out.Miners were to have had a 40% levy slapped on profits deemed to be in excess of the government bond rate, currently around 6%. Miners claim their total tax rate, including State royalties, would rise from 40-50% to 50-57%.New leader Julia Gillard has ordered all advertisements promoting the tax to stop straight away. Mining executives have also pulled their anti-tax campaigns.But miners with exposure to Australia, such as Xstrata, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, are in the red.The industrial transportation sector is higher, helped by a buoyant ACM Shipping.The shipbroker has branched out into the dry cargo market with the acquisition of Australian firm Endeavour and posted profits that just beat forecasts.Profit for the year ended 31 March slipped to £6.6m from £8.7m in 2009. Edison Investment Research predicted a decline to £6.4m. Revenue dropped 19% to $41.1m.On a busy day for the transport sector, distributor and airline operator Dart revealed a decline in full year pre-tax profit after challenging conditions for its Aviation business Jet2.com but said it is well placed to improve its performance this financial year.Top performing sectors so far todayMobile Telecommunications 3,306.54 +1.13%Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,073.85 +1.01%Food & Drug Retailers 4,560.24 +0.80%Industrial Transportation 2,240.95 +0.71%Construction & Materials 3,155.81 +0.63%Bottom performing sectors so far todayAutomobiles & Parts 2,927.26 -3.47%Forestry & Paper 4,386.10 -2.21%Mining 20,949.56 -2.01%Household Goods & Home Construction 5,855.97 -1.89%Software & Computer Services 640.23 -1.74%