Worse-than-expected Chinese inflation data and lower oil prices left the London market on the back foot on Thursday.
Figures out of Beijing in the early hours of the day hit their highest point since last September, but still fell short of the 1.9% expected by economists, coming in at 1.8%.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude was also 0.14% off at US$34.45, setting back mining and oil stocks.
Anglo American (LON:AAL) fell 23.65p to 444.4p, Glencore (LON:GLEN) dropped 4.6p to 115.4p, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) was 64p off at 1887p and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) subsided 11.8p to 731.2p.
BP (LON:BP.) leaked 2.3p to 347.55p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) backtracked 40p to 1596p. The FTSE 100 Index fell 51.85 points to 5978.
BAE Systems (LON:BA.) fired up 6.2p to 505.5p after posting lower underlying earnings, but increasing its dividend and forecasting higher earnings per share in 2016.
British Gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) inflated 5.6p to 199.7p as investors welcomed results that, while showing lower profits, were slightly ahead of expectations.
Elsewhere, Surface Transforms (LON:SCE) ticked up 0.5p to 18.5p on news that the maker of carbon fibre-reinforced ceramic composite materials had signed a deal for a lease on a new factory on Merseyside.
Natural sweetener maker PureCircle headed 3p, or 0.9%, lower to 321p as it said the finance chief of Unilever's (LON:ULVR) Latin American, South and Eastern European food business, Rakesh Sinha, would replace incumbent William Mitchell later this year.
Landore Resources (LON:LND) strengthened 0.08p, or 12%, to 0.7p after work carried out late last year at the metal miner's flagship Junior Lake property in Ontario showed one of the deposits there could be extended.
MARKET PREVIEW
The rally for the FTSE 100 is expected to pause on Thursday after it pushed back above 6,000 yesterday.
Global equity markets pressed strongly higher on Wednesday as crude prices gained more than 8%, with Brent rising to just above $35 per barrel.
Crude’s strong rally comes after Iran’s oil minister said the country would welcome a cooperation between major oil producers to freeze output, but wouldn’t commit to limiting its own production.
US Federal Reserve minutes and Chinese inflation stats were further areas of focus for economy watchers.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones gained over 250 points, 1.6%, to 16,453 while the S&P 500 rose by 1.65% and the NASDAQ added 2.2%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei moved 360 points or 2.3% higher to 16,196. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2%, while the Shanghai Composite was more or less flat.
Australia’s ASX 200 meanwhile rose around 110 points or 2.25% to 4,992.
In London, the FTSE 100 is expected to start Thursday’s session flat.
IG Markets is this morning calling the blue-chip benchmark just a couple of points lower, at 6016 to 6,021.