Sector movers: Precious metals miners boosted by lack of ECB decision

2nd Oct 2014 19:04

Shares of precious metals miners were the best performers on the market as risk aversion moved up a notch on the back of a disappointing press conference from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.Though almost impossible to predict, the slightly late start to his speech already seemed to foreshadow that all might not be well.Indeed, as analysts at Danske Bank pointed out, "Draghi had a hard time answering the questions today as he went from 'we are ready to implement other non-standard measures' to 'why are you blaming the ECB - we are the good guys who already have done more than you could ask from us'."The message would seem to have been quite clear, not all of the governing council is yet on board as regards plans for full-blown quantitative easing.The reaction in the dollar/yen - a frequently used barometer of 'risk aversion' - was immediate, it fell 0.69% to 108.3 yen.Similarly, the euro/dollar bounced back 0.47% to 1,2677.Thus, by the end of trading, Fresnillo shares were standing 0.33% higher at 7,495p and Randgold Resources was up by another 0.02% to 41,550p.