By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks headed for a third straight
day of losses on Tuesday, with banks and oil firms leading the
charge south, while mining firms recouped some losses suffered in
the previous day's selloff.
The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.6% to 6,308.89, adding to a 0.6%
loss from Monday.
Posting one of the biggest losses in the index, Associated
British Foods PLC dropped 2%, after Credit Suisse cut the firm to
neutral from outperform.
"The long-term story remains very good at ABF, but the shares
look due a pause for breath," analysts Charlie Mills said in a
note.
"The immediate outlook has both positives and negatives--the
industry seems to expect EU sugar prices to edge back (though oddly
the buyers don't), Chinese sugar losses are increasing and
ingredients remain challenging," he said.
On a sector basis, banks were among major decliners, tracking
losses for the sector across Europe. Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS)
dropped 1.8%, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) fell 1.3% and Standard
Chartered PLC lost 1.2%.
Oil firms were also falling, as oil prices extended losses.
Shares of BG Group PLC shaved off 0.7%, BP PLC (BP) erased 0.4% and
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) slipped 0.5%.
Shares of luxury-goods retailer Burberry Group PLC (BURBY) eased
2.6%, as peer firm LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported a
slowdown in sales growth in its main fashion and leather-goods
division.
Bucking the negative trend in London, miners rebounded from a
massive selloff on Monday when gold futures plunged $140.30, or
9.3%, the biggest one-day percentage drop since February 1983.
Shares of Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. climbed 4.6%,
Fresnillo PLC added 4.2% and Randgold Resources Ltd. gained
3.9%.
Shares of heavyweight Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) rose 1.9%, even as the
miner said a landslide at a big U.S. mine last week will dent
output by around 125,000 metric tons of copper this year.
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