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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Sector movers: Fed Powell's hawkish tilt hits precious metals miners' shares

(Sharecast News) - Precious metals miners were hit by the fallout from the very hawkish press conference by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell the night before. Powell opened the door to a higher terminal rate than expected while signalling that interest rates might need to stay higher longer.

On the back of Powell's remarks, on Thursday the US dollar spot index was jumping by 1.43% to 112.94, even as traders waited on the release of monthly non-farm payrolls data the next day.

Front-dated COMEX gold futures were off by 1.26% on his remarks to $1,629.20/oz..

Going the other way, Big Oil was the best performer as shares of Shell climbed to a fresh one-year high.

Tobacco was higher alongside, as British American Tobacco shares bounced back from the prior day's drop triggered by a downgrade out of Goldman Sachs.

Non-life insurance was also on the up, boosted by gains in Lancashire Holdings after the firm posted a 34.3% jump in gross premiums written for the nine months to 30 September to reach $1.3bn.

Top performing sectors so far today

Oil, Gas and Coal 8,616.43 +2.01%

Tobacco 36,230.73 +1.80%

Automobiles & Parts 1,126.74 +1.34%

Non-life Insurance 3,112.90 +1.26%

Construction & Materials 6,461.07 +1.08%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Leisure Goods 15,576.12 -3.18%

Telecommunications Service Providers 2,456.52 -3.01%

Precious Metals and Mining 9,097.82 -2.82%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,206.10 -2.27%

Chemicals 10,919.87 -2.03%

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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