Sector movers: Communications and construction drive markets down

Telecommunication sectors as well as the construction and household goods sectors were the biggest losers on Wednesday, as worries about a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy continued to undermine sentiment, following the release of disappointing Chinese inflation figures.

The FTSE 100 closed down 72.67 points (1.15%) to 6,269.61, while the FTSE 250 dropped 86.52 points (0.51%) to close at 16,811.51.

At 1548 BST, the Brent front-month futures contract was down 0.79% to $48.85 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 1.25% to $46.08 per barrel. Oil prices remained under pressure after worries about oversupply and slowing demand. It saw trading at its lowest levels in a week on worries about oversupply and slowing demand.

On Tuesday the International Energy Agency reported that global oil demand will slow to 1.2m barrels a day next year from a five-year high of 1.8 million barrels a day in 2015. Meanwhile the flow of Iranian oil resuming is expected to add to supply.

Base metals were mixed with the LME three-month futures contracts of primary aluminium (up 0.8%), lead (up 0.5%), copper (flat), nickel (down 0.3%), tin (down 0.5%), and zinc (down 0.2%). That helped drive down a number of construction and material company stocks.

Fixed line telecommunications was the biggest sector to drop, led by Cable and Wireless Communications and BT Group. Mobile telecommunications also took a hit, with Inmarsat and Vodafone Group forcing the sector down.

The housing construction sector tumbled and the back of mixed industrial metal prices, reversing Tuesday's strong gains. On the FTSE 100, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Persimmon took big hits and were all in the red, while on the FTSE 250 Countrywide, Foxtons Group and Galliford Try were also some of the index’s biggest fallers.