Sector movers: Rexam, DS Smith boost industrials higher

LONDON (ShareCast) - The general industrial sector was performing strongly today after a strong rise from FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) heavyweight consumer packaging firm Rexam (Dusseldorf: 948922.DU - news) provided a boost to the sector. Shares surged nearly 7% after underlying profits raced ahead of sluggish sales on the back of a better than expected performance in its Beverage Cans business, primarily in Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) . Underlying profit before tax rose 15% in 2011 to £450m from £390m in 2010, ahead of market expectations of £443m. Sales edged up 2% to £4,734m from £4,619m in 2010; the median forecast from the range of analysts covering the stock was for sales of £4,716m. Meanwhile, recycled packaging company DS Smith rose strongly on the FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) after completing a successful rights issue, raising the money it needs to pay for its purchase of Swedish firm SCA Packaging. By the deadline at 11:00 yesterday it had received acceptances for 98.61% of the offered shares in the nine-for-eight cash raising exercise. Today its underwriters, J.P. Morgan (KOSDAQ: 019990.KQ - news) , has managed to sell the outstanding 1.39% of the offer. The total cash raised will be around £466m, which, along with loans, will pay for the SCA (SNP: ^SCAY - news) transaction. Meanwhile, the food and drug retailers were out of favour today, with supermarket giant Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) weighing on the sector. Supermarket giant Tesco fell 2.23% in afternoon trade after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock from neutral to underperform. Meanwhile, in a separate note, downbeat comments by the US investment bank on the outlook for the UK grocers could be weighing on the wider sector with Ocado and Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY.L - news) in the red. BC Top performing sectors so far today General Industrials 3,172.03 +3.42% Forestry & Paper (Euronext: IXSPA.NX - news) 6,182.76 +2.14% Electronic & Electrical Equipment 3,397.89 +1.34% Support Services (Euronext: SSP.NX - news) 4,772.12 +1.31% Aerospace and Defence 3,692.80 +1.24% Bottom performing sectors so far today Industrial Metals & Mining 4,468.96 -2.43% Food & Drug Retailers 3,981.36 -1.12% Industrial Transportation 2,436.70 -1.08% Banks 4,045.84 -1.07% Mobile Telecommunications 4,042.62 -0.79%