Sector movers: Smiths give industrials a lift

The general industrials sector was given a boost on Monday by Smiths Group.Shares in Smiths Group were soaring Monday after the maker of medical devices and airport scanners said after the close of trading on Friday that it had rejected a £2.45bn approach for its biggest division Smiths Medical. It said it had carefully considered the approach, which came from the private equity group Apax according to media reports, concluding that continuing discussions on the basis of a sale at that level would not be in shareholders' best interests.GlaxoSmithKline is dragging the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sector lower after it was announced it would take a legal charge of £2.2bn for the fourth quarter of 2010, mostly linked to an investigation into US sales, promotional practices and for product liability cases regarding diabetes drug Avandia.Top performing sectors so far todayGeneral Industrials 3,264.48 +3.53%Automobiles & Parts 5,368.20 +3.42%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,958.93 +2.61%Mobile Telecommunications 3,994.58 +1.57%Food & Drug Retailers 4,785.57 +1.02%Bottom performing sectors so far todayAlternative Energy 3,934.61 -3.11%Technology Hardware & Equipment 703.24 -2.30%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 8,745.22 -1.33%Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,002.86 -1.28%Financial Services 6,426.20 -1.15%