At the close: FTSE falls as miners give up gains
The FTSE 100 lost ground today as miners slumped.
A fall in the oil price, as well as disappointing numbers out of China, meant the blue-chip index snapped its four-day winning streak.
The FTSE finished at 6,231.89, down by 1.1 per cent. The FTSE 100 had risen in its previous four sessions.
US stocks also dragged as investors worried over the health of the world’s second-largest economy.
Oil, which had climbed to highs for 2016 on supply concerns and a pick up in demand out of China, was sent lower as traders took profits and a stronger dollar made oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
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Brent crude was down 0.74 per cent at $52.12 a barrel, while US crude was down 0.92 per cent at $50.76 per barrel.
Miners were the worst performers on the FTSE. Antofagasta lost 6.3 per cent, while Glencore was 5.3 per cent lower.
BHP Billiton, Anglo American, and Rio Tinto were all down by between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent.
Elsewhere TV broadcaster Sky lead the FTSE after winning six out of eight live football TV rights packages for Germany’s Bundesliga, though at an increased cost on last year.
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Sky’s bill for German football rights will rise by 80 per cent as Bundesliga clubs pick up a total of €4.6bn (£3.6bn).
Global telecoms giant Vodafone lost 4.9 per cent after announcing a tie-up between its New Zealand unit and local pay-TV company Sky Network Television to try and better compete with the likes of Netflix.
It was thought that the London-listed Sky could be benefiting from some peripheral buying after same-named New Zealand company, Sky Network Television, teamed up with Vodafone – sending the NZ company's share price up by 17.5 per cent.