Sector movers: Miners rebound after recent slump

21st Mar 2014 14:59

The mining sector was performing well on Friday as bargain hunters stepped in following recent weakness, while personal goods stocks were dampened by heavy falls from Burberry.At Thursday's close, the FTSE 350 mining sector had lost more than 11% over the last four weeks as falling copper prices and concerns over a slowdown in China prompted investors to scale back their appetite for risk.Diversified resources giant Anglo American and precious metals producer Fresnillo were among the best performers today, as metal prices improved. Copper, in particular, was up 1.5% at $6,525.75 a metric tonne this afternoon.Copper miner Antofagasta was also making gains today, along with Rio Tinto and Glencore Xstrata.Heading the other way was high end fashion brand Burberry after Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered its rating on the stock from 'buy' to 'neutral'.The bank, which also slashed its target price from 1,740p to 1,500p, said that currency movements and the integration of Japanese operations following an apparel licence expiry are headwinds that are "too big to ignore".BofA believes that the stock's premium valuation to the sector will limit its outperformance in the near term.Top performing sectors so far todayMining 16,218.87 +1.34%Electronic & Electrical Equipment 4,238.71 +1.18%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 23,952.96 +0.91%Industrial Metals & Mining 901.06 +0.76%Food Producers & Processors 7,158.18 +0.54%Bottom performing sectors so far todayPersonal Goods 23,137.61 -1.74%Life Insurance 6,938.37 -0.97%Household Goods & Home Construction 11,418.41 -0.86%Food & Drug Retailers 3,849.95 -0.68%Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,512.87 -0.59%BC