By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Mining firms dipped in London on Thursday after data showed factory activity in China fell to a three-month low in August, stoking concerns about the second-largest economy's future demand for commodities.

For the overall U.K. market, the FTSE 100 index was marginally lower at 6,754.51.

Most of the top 10 decliners were mining firms, with shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) down 1.2%, Anglo American PLC off 0.9%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) 0.7% lower.

Precious-metals companies Fresnillo PLC and Randgold Resources Ltd. slid 2.1% and 1.4% respectively, as gold and silver posted sharp losses.

The losses for the mining sector came after HSBC's manufacturing purchasing managers index for China fell to 50.3 in August, compared with a final reading of 51.7 in July, signaling that the pace of growth at Chinese factories is slowing.

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