Sector movers: Mining updates lift sector

20th Jul 2010 11:18

Mining is one of the best performing sectors today as investors react positively to updates. Shares in Aquarius Platinum rallied after it learned that a recent directive on mine safety following a fatal accident at one of its mines in South Africa was not intended 'to unilaterally prescribe mining methods.'Shares in the platinum miner had fallen sharply on Friday and Monday, amid fears that sweeping measures that would affect its production of the precious metal would be implemented.Elsewhere in African mining, Petra Diamonds is higher after it said increased production and a recovery in rough diamond prices helped the Botswana, Tanzania and South Africa-focused group to boost gross mine revenue by 88% in the year to 30 June. Revenue jumped to $177.7m during the period from $94.4m in 2009, helped by the sale of the 507 carat egg-sized Cullinan Heritage diamond in February for $35.3m.A collapse in the share price of Cable & Wireless Worldwide means that fixed line telecommunications is the worst-performing sector. The largely UK focused part of the old Cable & Wireless, split off in March, warns the coalition government's emergency budget will cause earnings growth to slow this year and come in at the lower end of the range of expectations.Top performing sectors so far todayPersonal Goods 14,048.87 +0.37%Real Estate Investment Trusts 1,715.46 +0.31%Mining 19,415.53 +0.23%General Retailers 1,569.64 +0.10%Insurance (non-life) 1,435.39 +0.08%Bottom performing sectors so far todayFixed Line Telecommunications 1,858.80 -5.41%Software & Computer Services 642.26 -1.49%Support Services 3,877.08 -1.40%Mobile Telecommunications 3,299.43 -1.32%Financial Services 4,653.79 -1.26%