Tobacco stocks were performing well on Monday afternoon with sector giants British American and Imperial lighting up the category.

The stocks were up 0.74% and 0.79%, respectively, by 15:44 in London.

One possible reason for the lift could be a broker note out from Credit Suisse on US peer Philip Morris International in which it retained its 'neutral' rating, saying that it sees "greater upside elsewhere in our coverage".

The Swiss broker said that PMI trades at around 15 times next year's earnings, a premium to British American and Imperial, which have price-to-earnings ratios of 14 and 10.5, respectively.

Credit Suisse reiterated 'outperform' ratings on the shares of the UK-listed counterparts.

Mining stocks were also in the blue today with FTSE 100 peers Randgold, Fresnillo and Antofagasta doing well on the blue-chip index.

Elsewhere, African Barrick Gold advanced after saying that its acquisition of Aviva Mining Kenya has been formally approved by the Kenyan Competition Commission, the final hurdle before the takeover could complete.

Strategic Natural Resources rose after its (SNR) subsidiary, Elitheni Coal, agreed a container finance leasing agreement with Thelo Rolling Stock Leasing to help ship coal from its mine in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Meanwhile, Botswana Diamonds jumped nearly 14% after saying that data from the PL170/2012 licence in the Orapa area of Botswana shows areas with concentrations of diamond indicator minerals.


Top performing sectors so far today
Tobacco 36,176.45 +1.10%
Mining 19,215.15 +0.79%
Banks 4,193.71 +0.73%
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,657.89 +0.71%
Beverages 12,702.49 +0.60%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 3,292.70 -1.93%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 25,008.12 -1.92%
Electricity 8,954.69 -0.93%
Food & Drug Retailers 3,999.94 -0.78%
Chemicals 8,504.11 -0.71%

BC

Related share prices
British American Tobacco (BATS) share price
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) share price
Antofagasta (ANTO) share price
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) share price
Strategic Natural Resources (SNRP) share price
Fresnillo (FRES) share price
African Barrick Gold (ABG) share price
Botswana Diamonds (BOD) share price