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Miners pull FTSE lower ahead of Chinese data

Published 04/14/2011, 07:13 AM
Updated 04/14/2011, 07:16 AM
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* FTSE down 1 percent

* Miner hits as concerns over China's inflation resurface

* Reckitt drops as CEO retires

By David Brett

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Miners weighed on Britain's top share index on Thursday as concerns over the Chinese economy re-emerged, while investors reacted nervously to the retirement of Reckitt Benckiser's chief executive.

By 1052 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 59.01 points, or 1 percent, at 5,951.43, having closed 0.8 percent higher at 6,010.44 in the previous session

"The 45-point gain (on Wednesday was) not enough to suggest that Tuesday's (1.5 percent) slide was an aberration," a technical analyst at Charles Stanley said.

"I would reiterate the FTSE has breached its short-term uptrend and has not yet done enough to convince that this is going to be reversed in a hurry."

Miners fell along with base metal prices as investors shied away from riskier assets. Analysts cited concerns ahead of Chinese inflation and GDP data due on Friday.

Chinese inflation in March accelerated to 5.4 percent from a year earlier, Hong Kong media said on Thursday, which will add weight to the government's vow to rein in price rises.

"For the coming months we expect increasing volatilities in cyclical sectors with a more selective and less steady performance trend," analysts at Unicredit said in an equity strategy note, citing the impact of China's inflation and growth concerns.

Integrated oils also fell, with BP down 1 percent. BP and Russia's Rosneft extended by a month the deadline to complete a $16 billion share swap hours before its expiry, giving more time to salvage the deal.

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In the resources sector, commodities trading giant Glencore published details of long-awaited plans to raise up to $12.1 billion in a London and Hong Kong offering.

RECKITT RETREATS

British consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser fell 6.5 percent after the firm said Chief Executive Bart Becht is to retire, six months after announcing the departure of its chief financial officer.

"It was one of the most highly regarded management teams, I would have said, in the FTSE," Martin Dolan, an analyst at Espirito Santo, said.

"The fact that they've both gone now I think is basically going to cause some people to reassess (the situation)."

Chip designer ARM Holdings continued its recent erratic form, falling 2.3 percent, having risen 6.7 percent in the previous session on excitement surrounding Microsoft's conference in Las Vegas and its use of ARM-based technology.

Concerns over the impact on the supply chain as a result of Japan's earthquake remain.

"(The Japan supply issue) is not going to affect in the short term, it's more the long term going into Q2, Q3," Martin Dobson, head of trading at Westhouse Securities, said.

"If they do get supply problems with components, those will probably manifest themselves in forward earnings and I think you'll probably see cautionary statements coming from a few tech components and chip makers and the hardware companies if they have Japanese supply."

Investor locked in gains on banks, a sector dogged by regulatory uncertainty.

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Lloyds Banking Group shed 1.1 percent as Barclays Capital cut its target price and kept its "underweight" rating on the bank, saying the UK's Independent Commission on Banking's stance on Lloyds "will further dilute returns".

On the upside, 3I Group rose 1.2 percent boosted by the partial realisation of its investment in Go Outdoors announced late on Wednesday, and technical factors following a 12 percent fall in April, traders said.

Unilever climbed 0.7 percent as French peer Danone released a strong first-quarter update.

(Additional reporting by Brenda Goh and Tricia Wright. Editing by Erica Billingham)

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