FTSE 100 movers: ITV rallies on results; miners hit by falling iron ore prices
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,508.51 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with miners pacing the decline.
Miners slumped, with Rio Tinto, BHP and Anglo American all lower as iron ore prices fell as Brazil's Vale was set to resume operations at its Vargem Grande complex.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "The news has seen iron ore prices fall, putting pressure on mining stocks on fears that the strong rally in iron ore will now start to reverse, as more producers look to take advantage of the high prices."
The sector was also hit as broker Liberum downgraded its ratings on Rio, Anglo and BHP.
Speciality chemical company Croda International was down as it reported a drop in first-half pre-tax profit as its personal care business in the US and North Asia took a hit from the Sino-US trade spat.
Elsewhere, AstraZeneca and Diageo retreated ahead of results on Thursday.
Going the other way, ITV was the standout gainer as it said 'Love Island' helped to offset a fall in revenue at the broadcaster. The reality show enjoyed its best performance yet as it averaged at 5.5m viewers across all platforms and helped ensure that advertising revenue fell by less than guidance had suggested.
Exhibitions, events and information services group Informa was on the front foot as it reported a jump in first-half profit as revenue grew and the company said it was "performing to plan" across the business. In the six months to the end of June, adjusted pre-taxp rofit rose to £377.8m from £264.7m, with underlying revenue up 3.4% at £1.41bn.
Segro was also in the green as the property group said half-year adjusted pre-tax profit rose 19% to £131.8m and it is on track to spend £600m on new developments this year.
FTSE 100 - Risers
ITV (ITV) 115.10p 8.33%
Informa (INF) 881.60p 6.60%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 173.60p 3.92%
Next (NXT) 5,636.00p 3.19%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,422.00p 3.06%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,086.00p 2.96%
SEGRO (SGRO) 772.60p 2.44%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 211.50p 2.37%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,473.00p 2.19%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 659.40p 2.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,605.00p -4.63%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,957.00p -4.19%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 685.20p -4.11%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,179.50p -3.58%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,666.00p -3.32%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,246.00p -2.43%
Evraz (EVR) 656.80p -2.20%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,209.00p -2.13%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 6,331.00p -2.06%
Diageo (DGE) 3,340.00p -1.98%