London close: FTSE 100 declines as mining stocks fall on dollar advance

London’s top shares tumbled on Thursday as the rising dollar took its toll on mining and energy stocks.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 66.56p points adrift at 6639.71 as the greenback bounced on speculation of monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) and US interest rate hikes.

Speaking in Lithuania, ECB president Mario Draghi renewed the central bank's vow to go further on monetary policy using unconventional instruments to battle prolonged low inflation.

Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said: “Even if quantitative easing never happens, the fact that the ECB is looking to start and the Fed are almost done means the dollar is outperforming.”

Speculation about interest rate hikes in the UK also got a boost from a speech by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who said the time to increase the benchmark rate was getting closer.

Miners were among the main victims of the dollar’s surge, with Anglo American leading the sector lower on a 54p fall to 1407p. Silver miner Fresnillo dimmed 27.5p to 748p, BHP Billiton dropped 51.5p to 1746p and Rio Tinto was 77.5p off at 3105p.

Oil industry stocks also took a hit with BP falling 13.15p to 451.8p, Petrofac leaking 23p to 1021p and Tullow Oil off 10.5p at 654.5p.

Shopping centre developer Hammerson reversed 21.5p to 563p after announcing a placing to fund the acquisition of a shopping mall in Leicester in the UK.

Beleaguered supermarket group Tesco slipped 2.4p to 192.5p on news that UK lawmakers may grill the beleaguered supermarket group after a £250m black hole emerged in its accounts.

But budget airline Easyjet flew 35p higher to 1350p after rival Ryanair said annual profits would be towards the top of hopes. Ryanair’s shares lifted €0.07 to €7.38.

Harvester and Toby Carvery owner Mitchells & Butlers led the FTSE 250 Index lower after it said like-for-like sales rose 0.1% in the nine weeks to 20 September and were flat in the second half.

Shares in electronics group CSR gained 36.5p to 765p as the UK takeover panel extended the deadline for US suitor Microchip Technology to complete its bid negotiations.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,799.94 -0.49%
FTSE 100 6,639.71 -0.99%
FTSE 250 15,425.91 -0.72%

FTSE 100 - Risers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,350.00p +2.66%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,075.00p +1.32%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 76.20p +1.07%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,240.00p +1.06%
Carnival (CCL) 2,475.00p +0.98%
Capita (CPI) 1,150.00p +0.88%
3i Group (III) 388.00p +0.62%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 481.80p +0.61%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 310.70p +0.58%
Standard Life (SL.) 414.20p +0.53%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 923.50p -4.20%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,407.00p -3.70%
Hammerson (HMSO) 563.00p -3.68%
Fresnillo (FRES) 748.00p -3.55%
Royal Mail (RMG) 400.00p -3.47%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 637.50p -3.41%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,746.00p -2.87%
Meggitt (MGGT) 457.50p -2.83%
BP (BP.) 451.80p -2.83%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 904.00p -2.80%

FTSE 250 - Risers
CSR (CSR) 765.00p +5.01%
Laird (LRD) 315.50p +3.37%
William Hill (WMH) 373.80p +2.61%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 130.30p +2.52%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 59.90p +2.48%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,077.00p +2.09%
Amec (AMEC) 1,086.00p +1.88%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 119.20p +1.79%
EnQuest (ENQ) 108.20p +1.79%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 184.00p +1.77%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 373.70p -7.86%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 143.90p -5.64%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 121.20p -5.24%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 228.60p -4.67%
Polymetal International (POLY) 475.70p -4.40%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,090.00p -4.39%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,624.00p -3.79%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 225.30p -3.59%
Rightmove (RMV) 2,179.00p -3.50%
Countrywide (CWD) 459.50p -3.47%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers
RM (RM.) 150.00p +3.81%
Torotrak (TRK) 16.75p +1.52%
Filtronic (FTC) 25.75p +0.98%
Innovation Group (TIG) 29.00p +0.87%
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 466.00p +0.65%
NCC Group (NCC) 200.50p +0.38%
Consort Medical (CSRT) 1,008.00p +0.20%
IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 197.07 +0.18%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 3.85p -1.91%
Ricardo (RCDO) 658.00p -1.05%
SDL (SDL) 346.50p -1.00%
Vectura Group (VEC) 130.75p -0.95%
Skyepharma (SKP) 307.00p -0.65%
Optos (OPTS) 202.50p -0.49%
E2V Technologies (E2V) 164.25p -0.15%
Dialight (DIA) 862.50p -0.06%