Daily market snapshot: Defensives lag in flat early trading

The FTSE All Share was up 0.2% and the DJ Euro Stoxx 600 down 0.3% at the time of writing. Oil and gas, along with basic materials, are outperforming the market and the more defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities are lagging. US markets declined strongly on Friday with the S&P 500 ending 2.8% down on the day. Equity market volatility rose sharply as cyclical sectors sold off aggressively. The worst performing sectors were autos, financials and insurance, which fell 4.0%, 5.3% and 4.9% respectively. The more defensive sectors outperformed the falling market. Thoughts ...