London midday: Miners pull UK stocks lower after weak Chinese data

Weakness in the heavyweight mining sector pushed UK equity markets into the red on Thursday, outweighing a decent performance by financial stocks.

Underwhelming interim results from the likes of Morrisons and Next were also weighing on sentiment in London.

The FTSE 100 was trading 0.4% lower at 6,805 by midday.

Blue-chip mining stocks were providing a drag on the Footsie after data from top metals consumer China showed that inflation had dropped to a four-month low in August while producer prices continued to fall.

The figures compounded fears about weak domestic demand after data earlier this week showed a slowdown in money-supply growth and a fall in imports.

The inflation figures also came out on the same day that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) decided to withdraw some liquidity from the financial system which "is not likely to be well-received by the markets", according to analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.

"On a more positive note, the lower inflation figure does give the PBOC an opportunity to increase its targeted stimulus measures in the coming months which could help the country achieve the 7.5% growth target that some see it falling short of currently," Erlam said.

Miners, Morrisons and Next fall

Mining stocks such as Fresnillo, Anglo American, Randgold Resources and Antofagasta were among the worst performers on the FTSE 100 after the worse-than-expected data from China.

Morrisons, which initially rose in early deals, had erased gains and was trading lower by lunchtime as the market gave a mixed reaction to a less-than-expected, albeit still 51%, drop in first-half underlying profits. The company said it was still yet to see an improvement in like-for-like sales trends in the third quarter.

High street retailer Next was also unwanted despite slightly upgrading its full-year earnings guidance after first-half profit growth of 19% missed consensus forecasts slightly.

Heading the other was were banking peers RBS and Lloyds after saying that they would re-domicile in England in the event of a 'yes' vote for Scottish independence.

Nevertheless, a recent opinion poll by Survation eased fears somewhat after showing that the 'no' campaign came out on top with 53% of the votes. This helped the share price of Edinburgh-based Standard Life and Perth-headquartered SSE higher.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,851.43 -0.15%
FTSE 100 6,804.51 -0.37%
FTSE 250 15,674.31 +0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Standard Life (SL.) 414.10p +1.64%
St James's Place (STJ) 701.00p +1.59%
ITV (ITV) 215.70p +1.55%
SSE (SSE) 1,466.00p +1.45%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,334.00p +1.26%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 74.05p +1.12%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 345.90p +1.08%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,395.00p +1.01%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 374.80p +1.00%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 715.00p +0.99%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,418.50p -1.87%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,375.00p -1.86%
Fresnillo (FRES) 826.50p -1.84%
Next (NXT) 7,040.00p -1.74%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,637.00p -1.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,490.50p -1.58%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 767.50p -1.48%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 709.50p -1.46%
Barclays (BARC) 225.60p -1.16%
Sage Group (SGE) 385.10p -1.13%

FTSE 250 - Risers
IP Group (IPO) 214.40p +3.73%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 322.70p +3.50%
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 610.00p +2.95%
Hays (HAS) 129.60p +2.86%
Rank Group (RNK) 163.40p +2.70%
RPC Group (RPC) 552.00p +2.32%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 625.50p +2.29%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 514.50p +2.18%
Dignity (DTY) 1,448.00p +2.12%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 569.00p +2.06%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Home Retail Group (HOME) 175.00p -6.72%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 321.90p -6.67%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 227.40p -5.21%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,039.00p -3.26%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 295.30p -2.12%
Poundland Group (PLND) 318.40p -2.12%
Cobham (COB) 288.70p -2.04%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,375.00p -2.02%
De La Rue (DLAR) 747.00p -1.90%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 506.00p -1.75%