By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Mining firms dipped in London on
Thursday after data showed factory activity in China fell to a
three-month low in August, stoking concerns about the
second-largest economy's future demand for commodities.
For the overall U.K. market, the FTSE 100 index was marginally
lower at 6,754.51.
Most of the top 10 decliners were mining firms, with shares of
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) down 1.2%, Anglo American PLC off 0.9%, and BHP
Billiton PLC (BHP) 0.7% lower.
Precious-metals companies Fresnillo PLC and Randgold Resources
Ltd. slid 2.1% and 1.4% respectively, as gold and silver posted
sharp losses.
The losses for the mining sector came after HSBC's manufacturing
purchasing managers index for China fell to 50.3 in August,
compared with a final reading of 51.7 in July, signaling that the
pace of growth at Chinese factories is slowing.
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