Sector movers: Miners track metals higher after Fed minutes

9th Oct 2014 14:50

Mining stocks were leading the gains on London's stock market on Thursday as metal prices advanced amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve will not rush to raise interest rates.A dovish set of minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting sparked a steep fall in the dollar on Wednesday after policymakers maintained their pledge to keep interest rates low for a "considerable time".They expressed fears about how a slowdown in global growth and a stronger currency could affect the US economy.The dollar plunged to a three-week low against the yen, in turn giving giving greenback-denominated commodities such as gold and silver a boost. Gold rose 2.3% to a two-week high of $1,234 an ounce."It came as a breath of fresh air for gold prices [...] when participants realized that a rise in interest rates might not be on the cards just yet," said dealer Jonathan Sudaria from Capital Spreads."A weaker dollar undoubtedly helped as did ongoing reports of heightened physical demand from Asia," he said.Precious metal miners Randgold Resources, Fresnillo, African Barrick Gold, Polymetal and Centamin were rising strongly in afternoon trade.Randgold was being helped higher after Numis Securities upgraded the stock from 'add' to 'buy', while Centamin announced that third-quarter gold output increased by 15%.Meanwhile, copper advanced 1.2% to $3.0405 a pound, having earlier risen 1.5% - its biggest one-day gain in three weeks.Other diversified resources groups such as Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP Billiton were also in demand. Top performing sectors so far todayMining 15,669.46 +2.02%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 21,266.39 +1.83%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,048.78 +1.74%Industrial Metals & Mining 1,308.50 +1.67%Food & Drug Retailers 2,592.35 +0.90%Bottom performing sectors so far todayMobile Telecommunications 4,512.56 -1.87%General Retailers 2,594.29 -0.92%Electronic & Electrical Equipment 3,394.05 -0.86%Oil & Gas Producers 7,753.96 -0.84%Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,209.79 -0.67%