European and UK stocks on track for their biggest weekly gain in six months despite a batch of pretty negative economic news this week. BHP Billiton is the biggest riser among the majors here in the UK as investors cheer a spinoff of assets. Hargreaves Lansdown's Head of Equities, Richard Hunter says the mining sector needs to put its house in order.

SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (AUGUST 15, 2014)

1. HARGREAVES LANSDOWNS, HEAD OF EQUITIES, RICHARD HUNTER, SAYING:

JOURNALIST ASKING RICHARD HUNTER: 'What do you make of the BHP story? Clearly, we're moving closer to this de-merger. Clearly, the market likes it but there are some commentators out there who say this is not the way for this company to go.'

RICHARD HUNTER: 'Yeah, inevitably that particular strategic move is going to raise questions but I think it's probably more reflective of the fact that one of the things that commodity price aside, one of the reasons for the volatility in this sector over the last couple of years has been financial mismanagement. I don't mean that in an underhand way. Obviously, rather, that the mining sector needed to very much get its house in order in terms of getting the balance sheet stronger. We've obviously seen some M&A activity in the sector, which has given it some froth. We've also seen an increase in the amount of share buybacks and indeed dividend. So, any extraction, further extraction of value for the mining companies, we could potentially see this BHP Billiton move being it's in the end of the wedge.'

JOURNALIST: 'Okay. So all right, so what else do you- what else do you like in the sector?'

RICHARD HUNTER: 'Well, probably, the favorite at the moment in terms of the general market view has got to be Rio. That's one that's got such global diversification, let alone its product range that the minerals and also its mining. And it's of course got that very strong balance sheet as well. And that is a company that is particularly cash generative and in terms of, as I say, in terms of the general view, probably the pick of the sector.'

JOURNALIST: 'All right. Another sector I want to look at is construction and property. We've had some pretty decent earnings, dividend yields look pretty decent as well. Is that a sector you like?'

RICHARD HUNTER: 'Yeah. I mean, that's had a very good couple of days. It's been somewhat unloved over the last year or so and of course at this particular moment in time, investors are chasing value as well as yield and the perception is that you can currently get both of those in a sector which is going to continue to be underpinned by loose monetary policy for some significant time potentially. And where then, they're not looking especially overpriced. So in terms of the risers' board today, any digestion- we've had the likes of Land Securities and British Land being particular beneficiaries.'

JOURNALIST: 'What's your take on the general support for the equity markets despite the rather shaky economic data we've had? I mean, is your- is it that the data isn't actually as bad as people think? Or is it because this means we're going to see a continued expansion of policy from central banks?'

RICHARD HUNTER: 'The latter, I believe, we're getting back to the stage we had earlier in the year in terms of market sentiment. The bad news is good news. The bad news being some fairly weak economic data as we've seen this week from various pockets around the globe. The good news being is that the implication coming up off the back of that, is that continued or even further monetary stimulus might be on the cards. That's supportive for equities. What's undone slightly this year of course is the geopolitical concerns in the background. If you look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it's only up 0.8% for the year despite having hit that peak earlier on. And indeed, the FTSE100 is down 0.3% despite the strength of the rally we have seen today so there is certainly no valuation concerns happening because companies are coming up with their side of the bargain. But clearly, it's the geopolitical issues at the moment which is pegging us back.'