Sector movers: SABMiller lifts beverage stocks higher

27th Jun 2012 15:34

SABMiller and C and C were making decent gains on Wednesday, lifting the beverages sector to the top of the pile.SABMiller, the beer giant famous for its Peroni-, Foster- and Miller-branded lagers, was up nearly 3% in afternoon trade after some upbeat comments from Galvan Research."SABMiller investors clearly have a stake in a group that is steadily evolving into an emerging markets play, despite the recent Foster's Australia acquisition. Even the UK market shows some growth potential with the SAB 'world beer' brands," said head of research Andrew Gibson."While this broad geographical focus remains, the Galvan Research team will continue to rate the stock as a buy, particularly as the near term uptrend in the price action looks set to continue," he said.Meanwhile, Magners brewer C&C Group was on the up despite saying that poor weather in the UK and Ireland resulted in weak cider numbers in the first quarter. Nevertheless, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Glancey said that "we are confident that our resilient business model and strong brand market combinations will deliver continued earnings growth for the full year and maintain our business momentum."Sector peers Diageo and Britvic were also in demand.Top performing sectors so far todayBeverages 11,844.49 +2.56%Construction & Materials 3,202.33 +2.52%Technology Hardware & Equipment 671.46 +2.21%Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,432.81 +2.07%Banks 3,724.67 +2.03%Bottom performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 2,706.24 -2.86%Chemicals 7,757.13 -1.48%Forestry & Paper 5,757.29 -0.47%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,500.54 -0.06%General Retailers 1,671.14 -0.01%BC