Sector movers: Risk aversion lifts gold and silver miners

6th Jan 2015 14:42

An aversion to risk was benefitting gold and silver stocks on Tuesday in London as precious metal prices advanced amid macro concerns and equity-market volatility.A flight to safety was lifting the price of both gold and silver, with the former rising for the third consecutive day - its longest winning streak in two weeks.UK stock markets were registering small gains by the afternoon but the FTSE 100 had slumped by well over 1% early on as disappointing service-sector data in the UK and Europe and ongoing fears about Greece leaving the Eurozone weighed on sentiment."The Greek situation hasn't gone away and it will hang over the market for the foreseeable future. The election in Greece could be the beginning of the end of the Eurozone and traders are scurrying to the safe-havens of gold and government bonds," said analyst David Madden from IG.Gold futures for February delivery were trading 0.5% higher at $1,209.90 an ounce on the COMEX by the afternoon. Silver prices were 0.4% up at $16.28 an ounce.As a result, gold and silver miners Randgold and Fresnillo were rising by around 5% on the FTSE 100, while FTSE 250 counterparts Centamin and Acacia Mining were putting in decent gains.Smaller peers such as Highland Gold, Amara Mining, Caledonia Mining and Avocet Mining were also rising strongly, with the latter particularly in demand with shares up 16%.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 1,448.75 +1.45%Electricity 9,639.60 +1.34%Mining 13,806.32 +1.22%Forestry & Paper 11,094.50 +0.88%Food Producers & Processors 8,095.76 +0.85%Bottom performing sectors so far todayTechnology Hardware & Equipment 1,164.73 -1.58%Electronic & Electrical Equipment 3,919.31 -1.28%Construction & Materials 3,982.61 -1.02%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 15,707.14 -1.01%Support Services 6,291.65 -0.99%