Sector movers: Miners see red mist but FTSE 100 stays above 7,000

Most sectors saw red on Monday, with mining stocks bearing the brunt of the ongoing iron ore market malaise.

At 16:05 BST the FTSE 100 was down 0.44% or 31.05 points at 7058.72 on particularly bad trading day for mining, industrial metals, tobacco and food and drug stores. April marked the 12th successive month of falling prices as tepid Chinese demand and oversupply hit the market hard.

Spot prices slipped below $50 per tonne coming in 1.7% lower at $47.53 per tonne on 10 April prompting downward revisions to price forecast by UBS, S&P, Citigroup following Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse several others. Deutsche Bank remains particularly bearish with a sub-$40 per tonne forecast for the current year.

Investors took flight as the headline mining index was trading down 260.54 points or 1.88% at 13,590.60 while the industrial metals and minerals index was down 1.83% or 39.40 points at 2000.27.

At 16:15 BST Rio Tinto (down 1.00%), BHP Billiton (down 3.52%), Lonmin (down 3.38%), Antofagasta (down 2.63%) and Anglo American down (2.52%) were all in the red pulling the mining index down.

Precious metals miner Acacia (up 3.05%) was among the few to buck wider bearish trends in the mining sector.

Furthermore, S&P has placed its UK-listed rated mining companies – namely Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto – on ratings watch with a negative outlook.

Additionally, BlackRock Mining was trading lower, as chief investment strategist Russ Koestrich warned on Sunday that the tightening of US monetary policy could prove difficult for many investors to deal with.

Elsewhere, both tobacco blue chips British American Tobacco (down 1.57%) and Imperial Tobacco (down 1.49%) were in the red. Food and drug stores were dragged lower by supermarket leader Tesco (down 2.79%) following news over the weekend that it could be facing a £3bn impairment charge for failing stores.

Top five fallers

Mining 13,590.60 – 260.54 -1.88%
Industrial Metals 2000.27 -39.40 – 1.83%
Food & Drug retailers 3376.13 -54.21 – 1.68%
Tobacco 43,652.49 -649.32 – 1.47%
Automobiles & Parts 8,321 -123.91 -1.47%