Published: 11 June 2013

London - Mining stocks were among the top fallers as European shares edged lower on Monday, dragged down by weak data from the world's largest consumer of raw materials China.

Miners fell 0.7% after Chinese data showed growth in the world's second-largest economy was losing momentum, heaping pressure on the earnings outlook for a sector which has already lagged the market by near 20% in 2013.

Chinese imports fell 0.3% against expectations for a 6% rise, and the volume of major metals imports, including copper and alumina, fell at double-digit rates in unexpectedly weak data released at the weekend.

By 09:05, the FTSEurofirst was down 0.1% at 1 192.79, having rallied sharply on Friday and with the market expected to remain volatile heading into the meeting of the Federal Reserve next week, where more clues will be given as to the outlook for economic stimulus in the United States.

"Volatility will continue ahead of the FOMC meet. Although we believe the FOMC will back continued stimulus, continued contrasting comments from various Federal Reserve Bank leaders across the US persist in adding to volatility," Mark Ward, head of trading at Sanlam Securities, said.
- Reuters

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