UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Slide in iron ore and copper prices hits miners

U.K. stocks dropped Tuesday, with a decline in commodity shares weighing on the benchmark FTSE 100, as the holiday shortened trading week got underway.

The FTSE 100 fell 1% to 7,286.78, with losses picking up pace. All sectors fell, led by the basic materials group. Trading was closed Monday for the Easter holiday. Last week, which was shortened by the Good Friday holiday, the London benchmark shed 0.3%.

On Tuesday, shares of iron ore and copper producer Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) dropped 3.2%. Shares of iron ore heavyweights Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) and BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) slid 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively.

The moves in miners came as iron-ore prices slumped to five-month lows and copper prices erased most of last week's rebound, Accendo Markets said in a note.

"[I]nvestors believe major restocking from Chinese stimulus may now be complete. Said price falls are clearly ignoring Chinese GDP picking up from recent 6.7% lows to hit 6.9% -- fastest since Q3 2015 -- albeit fueled by credit and infrastructure investment and a relentlessly booming property market," wrote analysts Mike van Dulken and Henry Croft of Accendo.

The basic materials group makes up about 8% of the FTSE 100's weighting.

Among other mining moves, Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) gave up 2.1%, while Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) fell 1.8%. Gold producers Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) and Randgold Resources PLC (RRS.LN) lost 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.

Oil prices were slightly lower. Shares of oil producer BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) fell 2.5%, and rival Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) lost 1.7%.

The pound was buying $1.2583, compared with $1.2540 late Friday in New York.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2017 04:12 ET (08:12 GMT)

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