We are entering the final quarter of the year. Now seems a good time to look at which stocks have performed best so far in 2017 in each of the various super sectors which make up the London stock market.
Excluding investment companies there are a total of 19 super sectors. We have focused on companies with market caps of £100m or more - all data is taken from SharePad as at 5 October 2017. In this article we will look at the best performer from each of the first six super sectors and in parts two and three we will examine the remainder.
Automobiles & Parts
Best performer: GKN (GKN) +6.9% - as the only company in this sector to meet our market cap threshold, automotive engineer GKN had no competition. The company has endured a mixed year but the shares have gained momentum on recent weeks amid speculation the business could be broken up. The company could also be affected by the electrical vehicle revolution discussed in depth in this week’s issue of Shares.
Banks
Best performer: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) +22.8% - investors have warmed to the recovery story here with the company returning to profit in the first half of the year.
Basic Resources
Best performer: BlueJay Mining (JAY:AIM) +158% - a constituent of our Great Ideas portfolio, the mineral sands company is enjoying success with its Pituffik project in Greenland. You can read our latest thoughts on the company here.
Chemicals
Best performer: Treatt (TET) +89.7% - The flavour and fragrance specialist has benefited from increasing demand for products with better health credentials and like BlueJay is a constituent of our Great Ideas list.
Construction & Materials
Best performer: Morgan Sindall (MGNS) +92.3% - unlike several of its peers the company has enjoyed a strong 2017 and in July guided for full year results ‘significantly ahead’ of expectations. This is a recovery story after the company delivered a series of profit warnings linked to over-running costs and poorly priced contracts.
Financial Services
Best performer: Plus500 (PLUS:AIM) +134% - the spreadbetting outfit has seen a bombed out share price recover sharply as it doubled first half profit and announced full year results would beat expectations.
