Sector movers: Miners rise on ECB stimulus hopes

24th Apr 2013 16:04

Increasing hopes of an interest-rate cut in the Europe spurred investor appetite for risk on Wednesday, boosting the miners to the top of the pile.Gloomy figures from the Ifo institute this morning showed that the deterioration of the German economy continued this month with its headline business climate index dropping to 104.4 from the prior reading of 106.7, below the consensus estimate of 106.2. This, when combined with yesterday's worse-than-expected purchasing managers' indices (PMI) for the wider Eurozone, has sparked speculation that the European Central Bank could move to easy policy as early as next week. Markets surged yesterday after the PMI data, with the FTSE 100 jumping 2.0% on the day.Mining stocks in London were performing well today with EVRAZ, Glencore, Xstrata, Randgold, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta making gains of at least 3.0% as metals prices broadly rose.Miners have had a volatile week on the stock market after concerns about global growth - especially given a surprise slowdown in China - dampened the outlook for commodities demand.ENRC was bucking the wider trend today after announcing that its Chairman Mehmet Dalman has decided to resign, sending the stock into the red.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 1,808.67 +4.73%Mining 16,769.43 +3.34%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 22,872.84 +3.33%Automobiles & Parts 6,336.16 +2.73%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,156.21 +1.75%Bottom performing sectors so far todayFood & Drug Retailers 4,555.66 -1.61%Gas, Water & Multiutilities 5,953.90 -1.43%Mobile Telecommunications 4,520.37 -0.81%Beverages 15,050.12 -0.80%Electricity 9,706.32 -0.34%BC