Morning Markets: Mining rebound fails to halt FTSE fall

The FTSE was off 0.83% at 5365.96 points this morning despite the largest miners regaining some of the ground they lost yesterday.

By 9.15am the index was 45.15 points lower. Rio Tinto rose by 0.5% to £31.78 after Fitch said its rating would be unaffected by the proposed 40% tax on profits in Australia from 2012. BHP Billiton, which will also be unaffected, rose 0.5% to £18.75. News of the tax sent the sector down heavily yesterday. Sage Group rose 0.5% to 247p after posting first-half revenue of £718.9m, which was better than the expected £713.2m. Scottish & Southern Energy rose most, by 0.6% to £10.96. Prudential, which delayed releasing details on its proposed $21bn (£14bn) cash call, was flat at 5...