FTSE 100 movers: Miners drop as metals prices drop after US jobs beat

5th Jul 2013 14:38

Mining stocks were the worst performers of the day on Friday, tracking metals prices lower as the dollar the strengthened on the back of US labour-market data which smashed expectations. With an impressive 195,000 non-farm payrolls added in June - well ahead of the 165,000 forecast - and previous months' numbers being revised higher, the Federal Reserve is now widely expected to start scaling back its stimulus programme as early as September.Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Glencore Xstrata, Randgold Resources, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vedanta were registering heavy falls by afternoon trade.UBS has cut its recommendation for restaurant and hotel firm Whitbread from 'buy' to 'neutral', causing the stock to fall sharply today. The broker raised concerns with the firm's international hotel expansion and said that it was too early to gauge the financial impact of its new concept for compact city-centre hotels.Defence and aerospace engineering group firm Meggitt was also lower after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'hold', citing "insufficient upside" since the share price has surpassed its target.Heading the other way was real estate group British Land after acquiring a majority of Paddington Central, a, 11-acre mixed use estate in London's West End. FTSE 100 - RisersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 1,835.00p +1.66%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,549.00p +1.57%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 391.80p +1.56%British Land Co (BLND) 593.50p +1.54%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 123.20p +1.40%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 822.50p +1.23%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,242.00p +1.22%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 372.80p +1.14%Serco Group (SRP) 679.50p +1.12%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 760.50p +1.06%FTSE 100 - FallersAntofagasta (ANTO) 794.50p -4.85%Fresnillo (FRES) 899.50p -4.46%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 263.30p -4.17%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,156.00p -3.37%Whitbread (WTB) 3,094.00p -3.16%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,680.00p -2.81%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,681.00p -2.80%CRH (CRH) 1,321.00p -2.29%Melrose Industries (MRO) 265.30p -2.28%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,025.00p -2.19%