Sector movers: Miners, Media gain

8th Dec 2016 19:24

(ShareCast News) - Shares in steel-makers and most miners were on the front foot following stronger-than-expected export and import figures out of China, while higher prices for steel overnight, in China, pushed stock in Evraz higher. China's exports edged lower by 0.1% year-on-year in November following a 7.5% drop in the month before, while imports increased at a 6.7% clip, ahead of the 5.0% fall expected by economists."The across the board gains in China's November commodity imports suggest that the recent economic strengthening is registering across industrial sectors. Our China economists note that this solid data is evidence of upside risk for Q4 GDP growth numbers," Barclays Research said in a research report sent to clients.Purchases of copper ore and concentrate from overseas rocketed by 29.4% month-on-month in November to reach 1,760kt while those of iron ore climbed to 91.98mnt, the third-highest of all time.Despite the above, copper futures on COMEX took a breather, moving down by 0.68% to $2.6260 a pound. Chinese steel rebar futures on the other hand rose from $495.0 per metric tonne to $502.2 per metric tonne.WPP was wanted in the Media space, with an upgrade from analysts at Jefferies from 'hold' to 'buy' helping the shares to bounce back from recent weakness.The broker said they only expected a "limited impact" on the sector from a probe by the US Department of Justice.Defence stocks were lower, tracking their peers on Wall Street.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 2,581.35 +9.71%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,022.78 +2.60%General Industrials 5,576.11 +2.11%Media 7,239.91 +2.10%Mobile Telecommunications 4,473.83 +1.50%Bottom performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Transportation 2,973.86 -1.37%Electricity 8,698.56 -1.01%Aerospace and Defence 4,672.40 -0.77%Insurance (non-life) 2,670.35 -0.56%Automobiles & Parts 7,406.99 -0.50%