Sector movers: Cyclicals pace gains while Construction and Oil and Gas shares fall back

(Sharecast News) - Cyclicals paced gains on the FTSE 350 on Tuesday, led by shares in the Construction and Materials space. Triggering the move in the latter, brick and concrete products manufacturer Ibstock said that trading had been ahead of internal expectations in the third quarter, with "robust demand patterns" and a "strong" operational performance.

General Industrials meanwhile were lifted by gains in Smurfit Kappa, DS Smith and Mondi.

Ten-year Gilt yields dipped just three basis points to 3.948% - but ended the day near the session lows - with the pound edging higher alongside versus the Greenback, although in the background analysts continued to sound a somewhat guarded note.

Going the other way, Household Goods and Home Construction was at the bottom of the pile after Bellway warned that demand was moderating, even as it

posted a jump in full-year profit amid record revenue and completions.

The news weighed on sector peers Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry Group.

Oil&Gas was also on the backfoot after Bloomberg reported that the US was moving towards the release of a further 10-15m barrels of crude oil from the country's strategic reserves.

Prompt month Brent crude oil gave back almost 1% to $90.64 a barrel on the news.

Natural gas futures were moving sharply lower in parallel due to elevated gas storage levels and forecasts for mild weather over the next fortnight in much of Europe.

Top performing sectors so far today

Construction & Materials 6,269.10 +3.04%

General Industrials 5,743.02 +2.86%

Industrial Engineering 13,644.04 +2.79%

Automobiles & Parts 1,181.04 +2.78%

Investment Banking and Brokerage Services 11,895.47 +2.67%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Household Goods & Home Construction 9,157.02 -1.30%

Electricity 9,096.30 -0.73%

Oil, Gas and Coal 7,842.15 -0.35%

Tobacco 35,330.01 -0.13%

Gas, Water & Multiutilities 5,049.10 -0.01%