Sector movers: Miners lead the charge

23rd Nov 2009 11:18

Mining stocks are at the forefront of today's equity advance as metal prices continue rallying. Once again, gold has hit a new record as investors seek shelter from the falling dollar. Copper has reached a 14-month high.Precious metals stocks are also shining, with platinum group Lonmin, silver specialist Fresnillo and gold miner Randgold Resources going strong.Among the strongest risers in the sector is Aquarius Platinum, which today moved to head off a shareholder revolt by justifying its decision to pay its auditor $0.684m in additional fees.The chemicals sector has shrugged off heavy losses from one of its constituents to post strong gains. Environmental Recycling has become the second firm in a week to receive a public censure from the AIM Disciplinary Committee.In a statement, ERT said, "The company has co-operated fully with the London Stock Exchange in the enquiry into these breaches and, following discussions, has accepted the findings of the investigation and agreed to a public censure," it added.Among the stocks keeping the sector higher are speciality chemicals group, Johnson Matthey, which is exposed to the platinum prices through its involvement in refining the precious metal, and biofuels group D1 Oils.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals 5,009.12 +4.27%Mining 21,024.02 +3.60%Banks 5,157.29 +2.65%Chemicals 4,643.93 +2.25%Forestry & Paper 3,590.09 +1.80%