January engine and equipment sales data from Caterpillar (CAT), combined with jumps in copper and silver prices and a big earnings surprise from Astec Industries (ASTE)boosted mining and construction equipment stocks Tuesday. The mining and construction equipment group scaled up to a No. 28 ranking out of 197 in Tuesday's IBD. It ranked No. 172 at the start of the year. The group's needle-bending gain came from Astec. The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based