Next Share News (NXT)

Gains in the financial sector were offsetting falls in the mining sector on Wednesday as bargain hunters stepped in following recent falls. Aberdeen Asset Management, Schroders, Resolution and Prudential, four stocks that have been hit hard by market volatility over the last month, were among the top risers today as sentiment picked up.Insurance, savings and investment group Legal & General rose on plans to purchase UK annuity buy-out firm Lucida for £151m after identifying retirement solutions as one of its "five key themes for growth".Meanwhile, banking group Standard Chartered gained after saying that income for the first half of the year is expected to grow at a mid single-digit rate following a strong second quarter.Chemicals group Croda was also a high riser after UBS upgraded its rating on the stock from 'sell' to 'neutral' as part of a more upbeat stance on the sector. The broker said that softer comparatives due in the second half for chemicals stocks, combined with recent falls, creates a more attractive entry point.Leading the downside was the mining sector was metal prices tumbled across the board owing to a stronger dollar and the increased likelihood that the Federal Reserve will soon 'taper' stimulus if economic data continues to improve. Both gold and silver prices were trading at multiyear lows today.Antofagasta, Anglo American, Fresnillo, Randgold Resources, ENRC and Vedanta were all registering steep losses.A number of heavyweight stocks were trading lower after going ex-dividend this morning, including Next, Tate & Lyle and Compass, meaning that investors won't have a chance to be awarded the companies' latest payouts.FTSE 100 - RisersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 379.90p +5.21%Schroders (SDR) 2,153.00p +3.26%Prudential (PRU) 1,062.00p +3.01%Croda International (CRDA) 2,424.00p +2.93%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 279.20p +2.91%Standard Life (SL.) 356.80p +2.71%TUI Travel (TT.) 353.70p +2.64%Persimmon (PSN) 1,166.00p +2.64%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 169.80p +2.54%Barclays (BARC) 290.25p +2.53%FTSE 100 - FallersAntofagasta (ANTO) 789.00p -3.66%Anglo American (AAL) 1,255.50p -3.35%Fresnillo (FRES) 869.00p -3.28%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 3,989.00p -2.64%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 793.00p -2.52%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 209.50p -2.10%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,198.00p -1.72%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,030.00p -1.53%Next (NXT) 4,462.00p -1.35%Sage Group (SGE) 331.10p -1.28%