Insurance and resources stocks were taking a hit on Wednesday with some heavy falls from RSA weighing on the insurance sector and falling metals prices dampening the mining category.

Full-year results from RSA came in broadly in line with analysts' estimates, but a 33% reduction in the dividend surprised the market, leading to a 15% drop in the share price by the end of the day.

Chief Executive Officer Simon Lee said that the board's decision to cut the payout was a "prudent move" and in the best interest of the shareholders.

"It is absolutely the right thing to do for the business given the prospect of prolonged low bond yields," he said.

Other insurers such as Catlin, Aviva and Admiral were out of favour on Wednesday.


Precious metals peers Polymetal, Glencore and Fresnillo were also sold off as the price of gold slid to a six-month low.

Gold for April delivery was down 1.30% on the day at $1,584.10 by the close in London, having hit a low of $1,578 earlier on, the lowest price for a most-active contract since mid-July 2012.

"With technical signals also pointing to further declines, the direction of travel appears to be for a lower gold price, towards the December 2011 lows at $1,525," said senior market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.

"A lot of noise has been made with respect to the 'death cross' across the financial and social media today and in some markets it is a very accurate indicator," he said.

The 'death cross', as the name suggests, is often treated as a negative sign, where the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average.

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Transportation 2,568.79 +2.66%
General Industrials 3,841.61 +2.32%
Personal Goods 22,158.98 +1.63%
Tobacco 38,540.45 +1.58%
Electricity 9,269.90 +1.52%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Insurance (non-life) 1,693.04 -4.82%
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,979.48 -2.49%
Mining 20,101.51 -2.28%
Mobile Telecommunications 3,802.36 -0.78%
Life Insurance 5,483.87 -0.06%

BC

Related share prices
Aviva (AV.) share price
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) share price
Catlin Group Ltd. (CGL) share price
Admiral Group (ADM) share price
Fresnillo (FRES) share price
Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) share price
Polymetal International (POLY) share price