Sector movers: Insurers impress

Another strong day for equities got investors excited about Life Insurance. Global stock markets are rising for a sixth day, boosting the value of investments.Prudential and Legal & General are the best performers, but Friends Provident is also going well as the Resolution takeover situation rumbles on.Banks are striding ahead, with Lloyds Banking Group sharply higher on talk it may post a small headline profit for the first-half. Some of its most toxic sub-prime investments have clawed back billions of pounds of value in recent months, reports suggest.There are also rumours that Northern Rock chairman Ron Sandler could be on his way to Lloyds to replace existing chairman Sir Victor Blank.HSBC and RBS have joined the advance.Last week's GDP numbers from China and decent earnings in the US are giving miners a lift. BHP Billiton and Kazakhmys stand out.Top performing sectors so far todayLife Insurance 2,993.48 +4.03%Oil Equipment Services & Distribution 13,049.15 +3.84%Mining 14,966.01 +3.50%Automobiles & Parts 1,958.13 +2.76%Banks 4,122.14 +2.23%Bottom performing sectors so far todayHealth Care Equipment & Services 2,448.26 -2.62%Industrial Transportation 1,598.96 -0.92%Food & Drug Retailers 4,235.19 -0.89%Tobacco 21,267.54 -0.73%Food Producers & Processors 3,737.17 -0.35%