FTSE marred by miners

Miners were pulling the FTSE 100 down in early trading, despite having done well throughout the week on rising metals prices.

As of 8.40am, the benchmark blue-chip index had fallen 19.96 points (0.47%) to 4,260.02.

The top five worst performing stocks were miners, with Xstrata, Antofagasta, Lonmin, BHP Billiton and Anglo American all falling soon after the markets opened.

Xstrata, having reportedly ramped up its merger talks with Anglo American, fell 2.93% to 655p, while the latter company slipped 1.76% to £17.88.

Elsewhere, the index was expected to be affected by news BP has appointed the current chief executive officer of Ericsson, Carl-Henric Svanberg, to replace Peter Sutherland as chairman.

Stocks making early gains included Royal Bank of Scotland, up 3.19% to 36p, and TUI Travel, which rose 3.05% to 236.75.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 made good progress in Tokyo, finishing Thursday up 205.76 points (2.2%) to close at 9,796.08.

It was the best day for Japan's benchmark index in over a month as exporters continued to get a boost from a weaker yen, and as property shares climbed on a more positive economic outlook.

In the US, the Dow Jones closed Wednesday at 8,299.86, down 23.05 points (0.28%).

It was the first time this index closed below 8,300 in more than a month, despite the fact the US Federal Reserve downgraded the risk of deflation and left interest rates unchanged after its latest economic outlook meeting.