Weak Chinese data drags down mining stocks

Mining stocks weighed on the FTSE 100 index on Thursday, as the latest economic data pointed to a slowdown in China and the eurozone.

The HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) revealed a contraction in Chinese factory output for the first time in six months. The gloomy economic data pushed down the share prices of mining companies, which are highly dependent on Chinese demand. By mid-afternoon Rio Tinto was down 3.9%, followed by Anglo American and BHP Billiton, down 3.1% each. The wider FTSE 100 fell by 0.7% as a result. Europe struggled with downbeat data of its own, as Germany's private sector grew at the slowest pace in 16 months and France saw the fastest drop in new business in over a y...