Morning Markets: Miners hit by Oz tax plans

Miners fell sharply this morning on news the Australian Government plans to introduce a new 40% tax on resource projects from July 2012.

However, the UK's blue chip index managed to survive the hit to miners and a turbulent weekend for Europe following the agreement of a £95bn bail-out plan for Greece. The FTSE 100 rose 0.23% or 12.65 points to 5540.64 in early trading. The news from Australia immediately took its toll on Rio Tinto down 4.41% to £32.30, while BHP Billiton fell 3.41% to $1956 and Randgold Resources declined 2.24% to £54.60. BP also suffered losses, down 4.34% to 550.5p, on concern over the costs of litigation and compensation for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The tax changes pose a long term t...