FTSE adds to early losses midday as mining stocks wilt

MIDDAY REPORT: Headline shares added to modest early losses by midday, with investors little wiser after the latest UK inflation report, and with weak miners providing much of the down force as metals prices slipped lower.

At high noon, the FTSE100 was down 28.75 points at 5,846.44 with the FTSE250 off 25.7 points at 11,081.2 and the FTSE Smallcaps 5.95 points lower at 3,089.36.

US stock futures were treading water as investors focused on a hefty rise in the trade surplus in China, with impending employment data also weighing.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed at 11,312, S&P500 futures eased a point at 1,209 and Nasdaq 100 showed little movement at 2,176.

The latest Bank of England Inflation Report gave few clues as to the Bank’s next move, with the MPC seemingly split between whether inflation will rise or fall in the coming months.

Such uncertainty gave little support to a market tempted to cut and run after recent gains.

Mining heavyweights provided much of the down force this morning, with precious metals producers felling the most pain as prices shied away from recent record highs.

Randgold Resources was the biggest blue chip casualty at midday, off 185p at 6,080p on a mix of profit-taking and gold easing back below $1,400 an ounce. Lonmin lost 54p at 1,840p and Fresnillo dumped 33p at 1,415p.

Elsewhere in the sector, ENRC fell 18p at 991p, Rio Tinto lost 100.5p at 4,353.5p and BHP Billiton was 61.5p lower at 2,407.5p.

An easing in crude prices helped drag Shell down 17p at 2,005.5p, while BP dropped 5.6p at 448.85p and BG Group shed 3.5p at 1,278.5p.

However, Africa-focused Tullow Oil bucked the trend, jumping 17p at 1,248p after an upbeat Ghana production report.

News that Singapore Airlines is replacing Airbus A380 engines, brought Rolls-Royce down to earth, the shares falling 4.5p at 602p.

Supermarket operator Sainsbury slipped 2.4p at 374.8p, despite raising sales, profits and market share in the first half-year. Sales including VAT increased by 7% to £11.94bn.