FTSE 100 falls as miners drags index to 5,900

9am: The FTSE 100 is hovering around the 5,900 mark in early trading on the back of weakening metal prices sending mining stocks deep into the red.

Miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata have slipped by 1% at 8.50am which has driven the index to fall 0.23% to 5,909, mirroring losses made overnight in the US.

The Dow Jones slipped 0.38% or 47.38 points to 12,548 after weak manufacturing data dampened investors' optimism.

Index heavyweight Vodafone is top of the leaderboard, up 2% to 171p, after posting healthy annual results. The group's pre-tax profits rose to £11bn from £10.6bn, while revenues were up to £45.9bn from £44.5bn.

In Asia the Nikkei posted moderate gains, up 0.09% to 9567, with the index dragged down by Tokyo Electric Power which declined 9% as the stock struggles to recover from March's tsunami.