Sector movers: Natural resources stocks trigger another London market decline

The FTSE 100 was down 12.33 points or 0.18% at 6655.01, while FTSE 250 was down 26.55 or 0.15% with mining, metal and oil stocks leading a predictable market decline. While the slide in mining stocks was not as deep as the previous session, a recovery failed to materialise with the metals market continuing to send mixed signals.

Past the midway point in trading on the London Metal Exchange, three-month contracts of primary aluminium (down 0.3%), lead (down 0.3%) and nickel (down 2.1%) were all trading lower.

Copper came into sharp focus as Goldman Sachs analysts lowered their price forecasts for the industrial metal in 2015, 2016 and 2017 to $5,670, $4,725 and $4,500 per metric tonne, from $5,724, $5825 and $7,000 previously. The LME copper contract was trading down 0.4% or $19 at $5350.25 per metric tonne.

Despite Goldman Sachs analysts’ downbeat forecast on copper, blue chip Antofagasta was broadly flat. However, rival blue chips BHP Billiton (down 1.02%) and Rio Tinto (down 0.10%) stayed in negative territory, while Glencore (down 3.49%) found itself among the five biggest FTSE 100 fallers.

Fresnillo (down 0.24%) and Kaz Minerals (down 6.82%) were among other notable names to take a hit. Among the oil and gas stocks feeling the heat were Tullow Oil (down 3.74%) and Cairn Energy (down 3.76%).

Elsewhere, telecommunications stocks were also in the red with TalkTalk (down 7.17%), Telecom Plus (down 1.68%), BT Group (down 1.25%) and COLT Telecom (down 0.21%) trading lower.

On a positive note, technology stocks recovered from the previous session’s sell-off in wake of Apple’s poor results. ARM Holdings, which led the decline, recovered on Wednesday trading 4.64% to 45p higher at 1015p.

Story of the session belonged to media and publishing stocks with Pearson up 1.99% or 24p at 1233p on news of the sale of the Financial Times Group to Japan's Nikkei for £844m or $1.29bn.