Sector movers: Next weighs on retailers, while broker commentary buoys miners

Retailers were the weakest performing sector on Tuesday, dragged down by the negative news-flow around ex-market darling Next.The fashion retailer warned investors that third quarter sales would be coming in below analysts' expectations and that a continuation of the cold weather could reduce full-year profits. The FTSE 100 group's caveat that it was maintaining full-year guidance, saying "our experience suggests that some lost sales are regained when the weather turns", was insufficient to prop up market sentiment.That negative reaction came about despite a report from The Times according to which the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel will show that rival Marks & Spencer, led by Marc Bolland, is losing market share to it.Figures from Kantar Worldpanel will show that M&S suffered a 0.6% drop in its share of the clothing market for the 12 weeks to 31 August, with most of that going to Next.Precious metals miners were a bright spot in the market, at least out on the FTSE 250, as positive broker commentary offset a strengthening dollar, which pushed gold futures lower again.Gold futures for December out on COMEX slipped by $4.1 to end the day at $1,211.6 per ounce.That came after the latest figures from Eurostat revealed that the core rate of inflation in the euro area moved to to a five-year low of 0.3%, spurring bets that the European Central Bank will drop further hints regarding the possibility of further monetary easing at Thursday's policy meeting."If the macroeconomic picture deteriorates and medium-term inflation expectations move another clear leg down, we would expect the ECB to respond by broadening its purchase program to include assets like senior bank bonds, non-financial debt and potentially also EFSF/ESM bonds, with the main aim of accelerating balance sheet expansion and debasing the currency (forget the transmission mechanism!)," UniCredit Research said.African Barrick Gold thus climbed after Investec moved its rating to 'buy' from 'hold'.In parallel, Canaccord Genuity helped drive Centamin's share price higher after it lifted its rating from 'hold' to 'speculative buy'.