Excitement over the release of the new iPhone from Apple is driving demand for shares in Vodafone, the mobile communications colossus.

The new Apple smartphone goes on sale globally today.

No one seems very much concerned about the old-school "must have" mobile device, the Blackberry, which is probably just as well for Vodafone, as Blackberry users on the Vodafone network in Europe are currently experiencing an interruption in service.

While the mobile telecommunications sector is driven higher by Vodafone, the tobacco sector is lower, despite IMPs getting a positive write-up from Charles Stanley.

"At a price of 2362p, Imperial Tobacco (IMT) trades at a discount to global tobacco peers on 11.8x earnings (estimated fiscal year earnings per share 200p) and offers a dividend yield of 4.5% (estimated fiscal year dividend per share 105p) underpinned by robust cash flows (FCF [free cash flow] yield 7.8%) and a supportive share buyback. IMT is committed to gradually raising the payout ratio (fiscal year 2011 50.6%) while steadily growing dividends ahead of adjusted earnings per share." For those reasons, amongst others, the broker is telling clients to "accumulate."

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 2,913.53 +1.84%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,724.08 +1.30%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 25,656.70 +1.21%
Mobile Telecommunications 4,124.66 +1.16%
Construction & Materials 3,563.47 +0.98%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Tobacco 36,210.07 -1.22%
Household Goods & Home Construction 7,538.77 -0.99%
Beverages 12,489.96 -0.63%
Health Care Equipment & Services 3,855.33 -0.28%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,131.06 -0.28%


JH

Related share prices
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) share price
Vodafone Group (VOD) share price