Morning Markets: FTSE flops as mining rally ends

The FTSE 100 slipped slightly this morning after Wall Street’s recent rally stalled overnight.

Miners weighed on the main London index as investors sold shares following a surge in the sector earlier this week. The index was down 14.37 points (0.28%) at 5,149.58.

Precious metal mining firm, Johnson Matthey, is leading the downside with shares having fallen 3.83% to £14.30.

Tullow Oil, Antofagasta, Cairn Energy and Lonmin were also down by over 2% each so far this morning.

Kingfisher is an early winner however, after the B&Q owner reported its first year profits were up 35% at £288m. Shares in the company were up 1.77% at 206.60p.

After a flat day of trading, the Dow Jones closed 7.79 points (0.08%) down at 9,783.92 points following concerns the market rally is outrunning the pace of recovery in the real economy.

Japanese stocks fell this morning after a government report showed land prices declined the most in five years. The Nikkei 225 was down 73.26 yen (0.7%) at 10,370.54 yen.