The chemicals sector was the best performing sector on Tuesday with results from FTSE 250 firm SynthomerSynthomer, the materials group involved in a number of industries including paper, construction and health, received a positive reaction to its first-half report today despite registering a fall in both sales and profits.The company reported a 7.5% decline in underlying sales to £558.3m driven by weakness in its largest division, Europe and North America. In Europe specifically, the company said its performance was impacted by ongoing weak demand, particularly in construction-related markets, reflecting the current macro environment.Nevertheless, the company labelled its overall performance as "solid" with strong growth being experienced in Asia and Rest of World divisions.While pre-tax profit slipped 10.3% to £48.6m, investors welcomed the 9.1% hike in the interim dividend to 2.4p per share.The stock was up 4.37% at 215p in afternoon trade on Tuesday.Analyst Paul Satchell from Canaccord Genuity admitted that "though the 1H13 results were slightly below our expectations, our positive views on the fundamental attractiveness of Synthomer are unchanged".Satchell said: "In the immediate near term, we think concern over European exposure is likely to continue to weigh on the stock. Beyond that, we expect ongoing strength in Asia, supported by new capacity, to provide positive newsflow over coming months.FTSE 100 chemical heavyweights Johnson Matthey and Croda International were also performing well this afternoon, trading 1.15% and 1.55% higher, respectively.Others in the sector, such as Elmentis, Alent, AZ Electronic Materials and Oxford Catalysts Group, were also making gains today.Top performing sectors so far todayChemicals 9,808.81 +1.28%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 24,032.96 +1.16%Automobiles & Parts 8,159.85 +0.84%Food Producers & Processors 7,188.09 +0.83%Industrial Transportation 3,055.32 +0.83%Bottom performing sectors so far todayLife Insurance 6,383.77 -1.47%Household Goods & Home Construction 10,491.28 -0.59%Financial Services 7,109.78 -0.58%Food & Drug Retailers 4,682.05 -0.48%Construction & Materials 4,001.84 -0.43%BC