Sector movers: Nuclear closures lift electricity shares

18th Mar 2011 14:33

Electricity stocks are on the rise as the investors assess the impact of the Japanese nuclear crisis on the UK power sector.Broker Panmure Gordon has said that higher gas and electricity prices - as a result of plant closures in Japan and Germany - would be most obviously positive for Drax, labelling the power provider with a 'buy'.Scottish & Southern Energy is also higher after being issued with a 'buy' by the same broker. "SSE's more flexible hydro and pumped-storage assets could benefit if UK nuclear capacity were to come under threat," says analyst Adam Forsyth.The technology hardware and equipment sector is the worst performing sector today with Toumaz, ARM Holdings and Belgravium Technologies heading the fallers.Top performing sectors so far todayAutomobiles & Parts 4,563.90 +3.17%Electricity 7,629.58 +2.54%Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,486.60 +2.35%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 24,351.67 +2.09%Industrial Metals & Mining 7,901.69 +2.05%Bottom performing sectors so far todayTechnology Hardware & Equipment 706.33 -1.79%Mobile Telecommunications 3,878.11 -0.82%Alternative Energy 3,260.20 -0.57%Forestry & Paper 5,956.56 -0.18%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 8,468.37 -0.16%