Next Share News (NXT)

Mining is one of the best performers on a busy day for the sector.A notable riser is FTSE 250-listed Petropavlovsk, up more than 6% after the Russian gold miner forecast production would rise 18% in 2011 even on a very conservative estimate. Precious metal miners in the FTSE 100 are also going well including Randgold Resources and Fresnillo.Turning to platinum, Lonmin reported a fall in sales for the first quarter of its financial year due to weather disruption and the rebuilding of a furnace, but maintained its guidance for the full year. The company, which mines for the precious metal in South Africa, said its platinum sales of 66,426 ounces in the last three months of 2010 were down by 39.1% from the same period the previous year "mainly because of the Number One furnace rebuild and also as a result of bad weather affecting customer deliveries over the Christmas period in the northern hemisphere."Also in South African platinum mining, Aquarius Platinum grew production by 14% during the second quarter, driven by an increase at flagship asset Kroondal. Output for the three months to 31 December was up at 127,579 ounces from 112,359 ounces the year before as Kroondal delivered a 10% increase to 59,722 ounces.Both platinum miners' shares are higher.In base metals, Vedanta and Kazakhmys are also posting gains after updates. Both were firing on all cylinders in 2010 as they sought to tap into the global commodities boom.Retailers such as Next and Marks and Spencer fall back in sympathy with Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Maurritz, known on the High Street as H&M, which suffered a surprise fall in profits. H&M cited rising raw material prices as a reason for the squeeze.Top performing sectors so far todayForestry & Paper 5,628.03 +3.57%Life Insurance 4,385.57 +2.70%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 25,517.92 +1.60%Automobiles & Parts 5,054.90 +1.31%Mining 26,790.57 +1.26%Bottom performing sectors so far todayAlternative Energy 3,611.72 -4.82%Food Producers & Processors 4,939.72 -1.55%General Retailers 1,688.05 -1.40%Household Goods & Home Construction 6,535.17 -0.77%Support Services 4,425.09 -0.58%