Food and drug retailers were at the top of the pile today with supermarket giants Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrisons providing a boost to the sector.

Panmure Gordon said this morning that it expects "significant, unstoppable strategic changes to unfold over the next six to 12 months in the food retail sector".

"We expect companies to reduce and realign capital expenditure in the light of lower retail sales growth and the shift online in non-food. This means that Big 4 space growth has not just peaked, it will reduce dramatically. The emphasis will change to driving higher returns and making online profitable," Panmure said.

The broker thinks that this will result in a sector re-rating "as it becomes investable again".

Heading the other way were industrial stocks after materials science group Cookson took a battering following a disappointing update.

The company which provides materials and know-how to the steel production, foundry castings and electronics markets, has warned on full-year profits after a sticky third quarter for its Engineered Ceramics division.

"In light of the conditions being experienced by the Engineered Ceramics division, full year performance for the group as a whole is now expected to be materially below the board's previous expectations," Cookson revealed. Other parts of the business are ticking over as expected.


Top performing sectors so far today
Food & Drug Retailers 4,033.79 +0.72%
Forestry & Paper 6,904.44 +0.39%
Household Goods & Home Construction 7,593.54 +0.13%
Food Producers & Processors 6,109.63 +0.12%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,111.13 +0.07%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Automobiles & Parts 5,118.03 -3.27%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,672.31 -2.41%
General Industrials 3,255.99 -2.38%
Industrial Engineering 7,732.51 -2.24%
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,722.28 -2.13%

BC

Related share prices
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) share price
Tesco (TSCO) share price
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Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) share price