TALV.L Share News (TALV)

Industrial metals and mining stocks were the best performers in London on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions in Russia and Ukraine eased, helping a return in risk appetite among investors.There were no sectors trading in the red today, a sharp contrast to Monday's session when every sector was either flat or registering losses.Industrial miners bore the brunt of the sell-off yesterday on the back of escalating concerns about possible conflict between the two countries, where a number of names in the sector have a large exposure.However, comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin helped sentiment to recover today after he said there was no need yet to send troops into Ukraine.Speaking for the first time since the ousting of former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych last month, Putin said that the situation in the Crimea had "dissipated" and he would only send soldiers to Ukraine in an extreme case. Steel, iron ore and coal producer EVRAZ, which has a number of operations in Russia and Ukraine, was a heavy faller yesterday but recovered by 3.8% today. Ukraine-focused iron ore group Ferrexpo also bounced 5.7% in afternoon trade.Smaller miners including London Mining and Talvivaara were also making gains.Stocks were also recovering after disappointing data from top metals consumer China also weighed on market sentiment yesterday. The HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell from 49.5 to 48.5 in February, showing that activity in the sector contracted for the second month in a row.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 890.68 +3.70%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,228.69 +3.33%Aerospace and Defence 4,849.39 +2.66%Industrial Engineering 11,082.68 +2.51%Support Services 6,770.33 +2.51%BC