Sector movers: Oilfield services, mining and housebuilers lead market higher

13th May 2015 12:46

Oilfield services, mining and housebuilding stocks took the London market back into the green on Wednesday.At 15:18 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading at 6,966.21 up 0.47% or 32.41 points with housebuilders edging the blue chip index higher as they continued to benefit from buoyancy in the wider property market in wake of the UK general election.Persimmon (up 4.23%), Barratt Developments (up 3.94%) and Taylor Wimpey (up 2.87%) posted significant gains to make up three out of the top five FTSE 100 stocks intraday. In the wider market, real estate agents Winkworth (up 5.77%), Countrywide (up 5.22%) and Savills (up 0.97%) were in the green, ferrying the segment index to 3,131.74, up 45.65 points or 1.48%.Furthermore, Barratt Developments also raised its expectations for housing completions and profits for the full-year in a fresh trading update adding to positive sentiment.The session was also dominated by natural resources related stocks as an uptick in the oil, gold and copper markets boosted prices of oil and gas, oilfield services and mining stocks. Wood Group boosted buying in oilfield services stocks after the FTSE 250 company said it aimed to reduce its costs by $30m (£19.1m) in the remainder of 2015.The company added that it expected to deliver "strong cash flow" and that it had a strong balance sheet which provides security and flexibility. Wood Group's stock spiked 2.29% to 716p on the news. Rivals Petrofac (up 4.64%), Hunting (up 3.29%) and Amec (up 3.09%) also benefitted from the feel good factor pushing the segment index 3.14% higher to 18,917.13 points.Elsewhere, mining stocks strengthened on the back of improvement in base metals prices. Fresnillo (up 4.48%) was among the leading FTSE 100 stocks of the day. In the wider market, Randgold Resources (up 2.89%), Lonmin (up 2.52%), Antofagasta (up 1.07%) were notable risers with Rio Tinto also marginally in the green.Continuing with the sector Vedanta (up 0.41%) was also trading in the green on the appointment of Ajay Dixit as the new chief executive its power division. The industry veteran had been with Siemens for 35 years during which time he covered a number senior executive roles. Dixit began his service on 11 May. Finally, general retail stocks provided a positive market footnote with Majestic Wine (up 4.26%), Moss Bros (3.23%), Sports Direct (2.52%), Halfords (2.02%), Dixons Carphone (up 1.99%) and Kingfisher (up 1.31%) among the major risers in the segment.Top five sectorsOil Equipment, Services & Distribution 18,917.13 +575.91 +3.14% Metals & Mining 2,019.97 +51.21 +2.60% Real Estate & Housebuilders 3,133.03 +46.94 +1.52% Mobile Telecommunications 5,402.87 +79.15 +1.49% General Retailers 3,233.82 +43.16 +1.35%