London close: Equities led lower by mining stocks

UK equities fell on Tuesday with mining stocks leading the decline as oil prices continued to slide.

Oil prices dropped as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said that global demand in 2016 for its crude would be less than previously thought and that supply would likely be higher than expected this year.

At 1609 GMT, Brent crude was down 2.6% to $38.51 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate shed 2.9% to $36.12 per barrel.

Investors also digested mixed US economic data in afternoon trade.

US retail sales fell 0.1% month-on-month to $447.3bn in February, the first drop since September, the Commerce Department revealed. The decrease was not as bad as the 0.2% consensus forecast, however. On an annual basis sales were up 2.9%.

But January's sales data was revised markedly down to a 0.4% fall, having been initially published as a 0.2% rise.

Economists said this added another reason for the Federal Reserve to hold off from raising interest rates. The Fed announces its policy decision on Wednesday and is widely expected to keep measures unchanged.

Earlier, the Bank of Japan decided to stand pat on interest rates despite worsening conditions in the world’s third largest economy. The central bank also downgraded its view of the economy and inflation expectations.

The Bank of England is also widely expected to keep policy unchanged when it announces its latest measures on Thursday.

On a positive note for markets, business conditions in the New York region improved more than expected in March, according to a survey from the New York Fed. The Empire State manufacturing index rose to a reading of 0.6 from -16.6 in February, marking the first positive reading since July last year and beating expectations of -10.

Another report from National Association of Home Builders showed home-builder sentiment held steady in March. An index of builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes remained at the seasonally adjusted level of 58 in March, missing forecasts of 59.

Meanwhile, the ratio of business inventories to sales was 1.40 in January, marginally higher than 1.39 in December and 1.36 it was 12 months ago, the Commerce Department said, signalling that companies are failing to sell what they have produced.

In the Eurozone, Eurostat revealed euro-area employment rose 0.3% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three months. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, employment increased 1.2% in the euro-area.

In company news, shares in Antofagasta slid after the miner revealed earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation plunged 58% to $890.7m due mainly to lower copper prices. The company also cancelled its final dividend.

Anglo American also sat lower after its chief executive Mark Cutifani shelled out for 40,000 shares at £5.51 each to underpin the struggling company. It came after Anglo American published its annual report on Monday, which showed the miner falling to a record $5.5bn pre-tax loss for 2015, with Cutifani's pay package also sinking.

Royal Bank of Scotland rallied after Goldman Sachs upped the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and added it to its Conviction List. The Financial Times also reported that the lender is axing 448 investment banking jobs as part of a radical restructuring and is planning to transfer millions of pounds of pension-related costs on to employees.

Legal & General declined after reporting a capital position below some analysts’ expectations in its full year results.

Wood Group dropped after Canaccord Genuity cut its stance on the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’, saying the stock was overvalued following the recent outperformance.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,142.96 -0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,640.69 -0.31%
techMARK (TASX) 3,088.99 -0.21%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,433.00p 1.78%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 458.80p 1.57%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 234.80p 1.56%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,148.00p 1.21%
WPP (WPP) 1,592.00p 1.08%
Relx plc (REL) 1,268.00p 1.04%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,358.00p 0.97%
Sage Group (SGE) 601.50p 0.92%
ITV (ITV) 241.30p 0.88%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,250.00p 0.81%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 488.10p -10.69%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 762.10p -6.63%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 228.10p -6.36%
Glencore (GLEN) 140.85p -4.77%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 513.50p -4.47%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,919.50p -4.10%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 464.00p -4.04%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,360.00p -2.72%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 281.70p -2.59%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,783.00p -2.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 344.20p 5.13%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 168.00p 4.02%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,425.00p 3.64%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 254.80p 3.62%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 219.00p 3.40%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 323.00p 3.13%
Poundland Group (PLND) 165.80p 3.05%
IP Group (IPO) 179.20p 2.99%
Redrow (RDW) 403.40p 2.93%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 292.00p 2.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 192.50p -10.92%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,824.00p -7.03%
Evraz (EVR) 86.15p -6.97%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 305.70p -6.94%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 856.00p -5.88%
Allied Minds (ALM) 353.00p -5.79%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 616.50p -5.30%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 81.60p -4.78%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 249.50p -3.74%
Vectura Group (VEC) 147.00p -3.54%