By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Mining firms led U.K. stocks lower on
Tuesday, after sector heavyweight BHP Billiton PLC reported a drop
in full-year profit and Glencore Xstrata PLC booked a multibillion
write-down on assets.
The FTSE 100 index lost 0.2% to 6,453.46, closing at the lowest
level since July 8.
Shares of Glencore Xstrata (GLCNF) dropped 1.6% after the firm
recorded an impairment charge of $8.47 billion of its assets,
contributing to a net loss in the first half of the year. A large
part was due to a $7.66 billion write-down related to the
acquisition of Xstrata, which closed in May.
Another resource giant, BHP Billiton (BHP) shaved off 1.7% after
the mining heavyweight said net profit slumped 30% to $10.88
billion in the fiscal year ended June, while revenue dropped 8.7%
to $65.97 billion.
Other miners were also lower, with shares of Vedanta Resources
PLC dropping 2.3% and Antofagasta PLC down 1.1%. Metals prices
traded mixed.
Another major mover in London, shares of John Wood Group PLC
slid 8% after the oil-services firm lowered the earnings outlook
for its engineering unit, giving a growth range of 10% to 15%,
compared with its previous estimate of 15%.
CRH PLC (CRHCY) shed 2.2% after the building-materials firm said
it fell into a pretax loss for the first half of the year.
Outside the main index in London, Ladbrokes PLC gained 3.1%
after Deutsche Bank lifted the online betting firm to buy from
hold.
Shares of Bovis Homes Group PLC rose 1.1% after Citigroup lifted
the home builder to buy from neutral.
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