Sector movers: Mining, materials stocks hammered as London ends lower

Mining and materials stocks led the London market lower on Tuesday, with Greece still hounding investor sentiment.

The blue chip FTSE 100 closed 0.53% or 36.24 points lower at 6753.80, as Chinese data hammered the mining sector since the commencement of proceedings fairly early on in the session.

Already having to contend with lacklustre Chinese economic activity, miners were greeted overnight with news that China's copper imports fell 16.3% in May from the previous month, hitting a three-month low.

Data also indicated that Chinese exports of unwrought aluminium and products jumped 21% on an annualised basis to 410,000 tonnes. Additionally, Societe Generale lowered its iron ore price estimate for the period between 2015 and 2018 “conservatively” to $55 per metric tonne and to $70 per metric tonne thereafter; roughly $20 per metric tonne below its previous estimates.

With precious metals still enduring broadly bearish sentiment, an intraday sell-off in mining and minerals shares ensued with Anglo American being the biggest loser among the blue chips, down 2% or 20.10p at 985.40p. Among small caps, Beowulf Mining took the largest hit shedding 10% to 2.03p.

Antofagasta (down 0.48%), Fresnillo (down 0.21%), Glencore (broadly flat), Kaz Minerals (down 1.29%), Lonmin (down 0.57%) and Rio Tinto (down 1.33%) also endured a tepid day. The sell-off extended to construction and materials companies, where steelmakers followed iron ore miners down, after a Moody’s report said operators would continue to endure lower profitability.

Evraz bore the brunt of bearish sentiment, falling 2.78% or 4.60p to 160.70p accompanying all iron ore related shares down. The one mining stock to buck wider sector trends in mining and materials was Vedanta Resources.

It jumped nearly 5% as the company's response to media speculation that it could merge its subsidiary Cairn India into itself suggested there may be some truth to the stories.

Vedanta Resources said it was committed to maintaining its premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and “will make appropriate disclosures as and when required”.

Bottom five sectors

Industrial Metals & Mining 1,586.63 -45.30-2.78%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 12,776.74 -154.20 -1.19%
Electricity 9,356.26 -104.35 -1.10%
Construction & Materials 4,839.54 -53.00 -1.08%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,334.27 -13.29 -0.99%