The FTSE 100 was dragged lower by mining stocks this morning, offsetting a jump in JD Sports (JD) as the sportswear retailer notched up record earnings.
The main index slipped 0.58%, or 40 points, to 7,027 after a tough night for US and Asian equities. Chinese property development giant Evergrande plunged as it struggled with its monster debt pile and investors looked ahead to US inflation data.
Online supermarket platform Ocado (OCDO) fell to the bottom of the blue chips, losing 2.9%, or 55p, to trade at £18.30. Its retail division, which is 50% owned by Marks & Spencer, reported a third-quarter revenue fall of 10.6% to £517m following the fire at its fulfilment centre in Erith, southeast London, over the summer.
International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) dropped 2.8%, or 4p, to trade at 144p as analysts at BNP Paribas downgraded the British Airways owner and reduced their target price.
Miners were down across the board: Anglo American (AAL) lost 2.4% to trade at £30.18, Glencore (GLEN) fell 2.2% to 332p, Rio Tinto (RIO) dropped 2.1% to £51.75, and BHP (BHP) shed 2% to change hands at £20.37.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: ‘If mining stocks are a bellwether for the global economy, then investors need to sit up and take notice that the sector has been one of the worst performers in the past month.’
The bright spot on the index was JD Sports, but despite soaring 7.3%, or 76p, to trade at an all-time high of £11.25, it wasn’t enough to keep the index in the black.
JD Sports is expecting a jump in profits this year after strong first-half results that saw revenues reach £3.8bn in the 26 weeks to the end of July, up from £2.5bn the previous year. Pre-tax profit soared to £439.5m from £61.9m last year.
Despite the…
