FTSE Modestly Lower; Miners Lose Ground

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks are slightly down Monday morning, due largely to weakness in the mining sector after data showed a contraction in the manufacturing sector in the world's second largest economy.

The latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics said the manufacturing sector in China fell into contraction in January, with the manufacturing PMI score dropping to 49.1. That missed expectations for a reading of 50.1, the previous month's score.

Chna's industrial profits declined at a faster rate of 3.3% in 2024, despite a surge in profits in December, another data from the National Bureau of Statistics said. In 2023, profits had dropped by 2.3%.

The U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 is down 24.56 points or 0.29% at 8,477.79

Anglo American Plc is down more than 6%, weighed down by reports that BHP Group is halting the bid to acquire the company, backing out for the time being due to recent rise in Aanglo American's stock prices.

Antofagasta, Glencore and Fresnillo are lower by 2.7%, 2.6% and 1.9%, respectively. Rio Tinto is down 1.7%.

Scottish Mortgage is declining 5.2%. Halma, Ashtead Group and Rolls-Royce Holdings are down 3.2 to 4%. Diploma, IMI, Hiscox, F&C Investment Trust, 38, Weir Holdings and Intertek are lower by 1.6 to 2.5%.

Melrose Industries, Barclays, Standard Chartered, Smiths, Intermediate Capital, Barratt Redro, IAG and BAE Systems are also notably lower.

British American Tobacco is rising nearly 5%. Airtel Africa, Vodafone and GlaxoSmithKline are gaining 2.5 to 3%.

British American Tobacco is up nearly 5% after the Trump administration withdrew a plan to ban menthol cigarettes in the U.S. Low-cost airline Ryanair is up more than 2% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Convatec Group, Croda International, EasyJet, Haleon, LondonMetric Property, Imperial Brands, Berkeley Group Holdings, National Grid and Severn Trent are up 1.5 to 2%.