By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks slid in London on Tuesday with
miners dropping after Chinese data pointed to slower growth in the
industrial sector, offsetting an upbeat reading on manufacturing
output in the U.K.
The FTSE 100 index gave up 0.6% to close at 6,523.31, snapping a
two-day winning streak.
Mining firms moved lower after a mixed bag of data from China.
Industrial production growth moderated in November, while retail
sales picked up from an already robust pace. Miners are sensitive
to growth indications from China as the country is a major user of
natural resources.
Shares of BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) dropped 2%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO)
fell 1.1% and Vedanta Resources PLC gave up 2.1%. Metals prices
were, however, higher across the board.
Banks were also on the decline. Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC
(HSBC) dropped 0.9%, Barclays PLC (BCS) fell 0.8% and Standard
Chartered PLC gave up 2.3%.
The losses offset optimism over data from the Office for
National Statistics, which said both manufacturing and industrial
output climbed 0.4% in October from September. Compared to a year
ago, output in the manufacturing sector rose by 2.7%, the largest
annual growth rate since May 2011.
But the upswing at British factories in October wasn't reflected
in the U.K.'s trading performance, with the deficit in goods trade
with the European Union hitting a record in October of 6.5 billion
pounds ($10.7 billion).
"The U.K. is recovering rapidly as fading uncertainty and
super-loose monetary policy drive a domestic recovery," said Rob
Wood, chief U.K. economist at Berenberg, in a note.
"Still, big picture, the U.K. is recovering much faster than its
main trading partner, the euro zone, so it is unlikely that the
trade deficit will improve markedly over the next year," he
added.
Prudential PLC gained 1.7% after the insurance firm said it
remains on track to double its new business profits from Asia and
aims to generate at least GBP10 billion pounds of cash across the
group over the next four years.
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