Miners are off to a strong start this year with Fresnillo (FRES), Antofagasta (ANTO), Randgold Resources (RRS) and Glencore (GLEN) among the top performers in the FTSE 350 index.
Shares in the four stocks have gained on average 19% since the start of January 2017.
Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey (TW.) and Persimmon (PSN) provide hope for the sector, which sharply fell after the Brexit vote, as they have rallied 15.7% and 13.9% so far this year.
British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) has continued its recovery rally which started in late 2016, rising by a further 18.3% since January 2017.
WHO IS STRUGGLING?
On the flip side, retailer Next (NXT) has declined the most in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index by 23.5% as difficult trading conditions forced it to downgrade 2016 profit estimates.
However, the retailer was not alone as Dixons Carphone (DC.) and Kingfisher (KGF) battled with volatile trading following the Brexit vote.
Other prominent fallers are oil giant BP (BP.), troubled academic publisher Pearson (PSON) and insurer Direct Line (DLG).
FTSE 250 BEST AND WORST PERFORMERS
Among the mid caps, miners are on a lucky streak as KAZ Minerals (KAZ) and Acacia Mining (ACA) top the FTSE 250 with year-to-date gains of over 40%.
Investors shouldn’t be surprised that defence firm Cobham (COB) has fallen by 18% this year as it recently issued its fifth profit warning in 15 months.
Retailer loser re-emerge in the mid-cap index with Pets at Home (PETS), Dunelm (DNLM), AO World (AO) and Just Eat (JE.) down by up to 23%.
