Sector Movers: Mining, construction lead market charge as FTSE 100 jumps above 7000

LONDON (ShareCast) - Construction, materials and mining sectors led the market as the FTSE 100 climbed above 7,000 points for the first time in its history on Friday. The mining stocks index bucked a barrage of bad news and rose 3.17% to 14,227.64 points at 16:15, helped in no small part by a sudden mid-afternoon spike of over 20% in Vedanta Resources (Other OTC: VDNRF - news) ' shares. The company shed 6% of its share price earlier in the day following less than convincing financial data, but bounced back on market chatter of Indian industrial magnate Anil Agarwal, who currently owns a 61.7% controlling interest in Vedanta, increasing his stake in the company.

Elsewhere in the sector Kaz Minerals (LSE: KAZ.L - news) rose 6.4%, Fresnillo (Other OTC: FNLPF - news) was up 4.7% while Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) jumped 4.5%. Regardless of the uptick, the sector continues to be troubled by a downturn in the wider commodities market as the dollar's strength weighed heavy overnight.

Meanwhile, the price of iron ore has tumbled to its lowest level in six years as lacklustre growth in China continues to hound miners. Feedback (LSE: FDBK.L - news) from industry price aggregators indicated that benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to Chinese ports was trading at $54.50 per tonne, barely moving from its overnight close. The stated price level was last seen in the first half of 2009, and is 70% below its 2011 peak.

The iron ore price slump has escalated into a political row in Australia which is heavily reliant on iron ore exports to China. Colin Barnett, premier of Australia's Western Province, blamed the mining companies of creating the oversupply scenario.

Rounding up on mining heavyweights BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , Vale and Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) , Barnett told ABC Radio that their reading of the market situation had been "dramatically wrong".

"They have been putting too much iron ore into the market and...precipitated a continuing downward trend in iron ore prices. This has been one of the dumbest corporate plays I think I've ever seen," he added.

None of the companies mentioned have formally responded. BHP's shares were up 3.4% to 1536p while Rio Tinto's rose by 2.34% to 2912p. Elsewhere, construction and oil-related stocks continued in the green following on the back of traction gained after the UK budget which included a set of positive measures for both sectors.

Overall, construction and materials sector was up 4.69% to 2,883.52 points, while oil equipment, services and distribution sector was up 2.55% to 18,937.58. Going the other way, tobacco continued to be the worst performing sector for a second successive trading day, albeit by a lower 0.41% on a good day for the London market.

Leading sectors: Construction & Materials 4,883.52 +218.63 +4.69% Mining 14,306.76 +467.49 3.38% Oil Equipment, Service & Distribution 18,937.58 +471.18 2.55% Industrial Metals & Mining 1,952.02 +29.55 1.54% Oil & Gas Producers 7,145.99 106.97 +1.52%