Vodafone was lifting the mobile telecommunications sector higher today.

The telecoms titan rose on reports that the Indian Supreme Court has overturned an earlier tax-ruling against it from a lower court.

The long-running battle centres around a $2.5bn (£1.3bn) tax bill relating to its 67% interest in Vodafone Essar, the Indian mobile unit of Hutchison Whampoa in which Vodafone invested over $11bn in 2007.

Meanwhile, oil producers and oil services stocks were on the decline, tracking commodity prices lower was crude was pressured by poor Chinese manufacturing data and ongoing concerns in the Eurozone.

Just before the close on the IntercontinentalExchange, Brent crude for March delivery was 1.38% down at $110.01, while WTI crude for March delivery dropped 2.35% to $98.23.

Oil and gas engineer Weir was the worst performer falling over 6%, closely followed by Petrofac which suffered a downgrade from JP Morgan Cazenove.

BP, BG and Shell were further pressured after Credit Suisse cut earnings per share estimates across the global 'Integrated Oils' sector.

BC

Top performing sectors so far today
Mobile Telecommunications 4,087.96 +1.42%
Financial Services 4,735.11 +1.40%
Health Care Equipment & Services 3,447.88 +1.38%
Real Estate Investment Trusts 1,889.19 +1.35%
Beverages 10,457.96 +1.19%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 23,336.30 -2.56%
Industrial Engineering 7,393.39 -2.06%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,558.64 -2.01%
Industrial Metals & Mining 4,921.19 -1.13%
Mining 22,122.83 -0.93%

Related share prices
BG Group (BG.) share price
BP (BP.) share price
Vodafone Group (VOD) share price
Weir Group (WEIR) share price
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) share price
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) share price