RTRS: FTSE falls 2.3 pct at midday; miners, oils weak
FTSE falls 2.3 pct
* Miners, oils weak as commodity prices slide
* Vodafone jumps on relief after Q3 numbers
* UK retail sales, house prices fall
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index was 2.3 percent lower by midday on Tuesday as economic worries returned to the fore to hurt global markets, knocking miners, oils and banks.
By 1200 GMT, the FTSE 100 index .FTSE was 102.36 points lower at 4,301.56 after gaining 38.96 points, or 0.8 percent, on Monday.
"Overall trading is aimless," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, "with nothing really to get your teeth into".
"It's just a bit of everything today, notably weakness in miners and banks," Wheeldon added.
Miners fell sharply, reflecting lower metals prices amid further evidence of a weakening Chinese economy, with Lonmin (LMI.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 9.3 percent and Vedanta Resources (VED.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 7.0 percent.
Heavyweight oil companies were also a drag on the blue-chip index as crude prices CLc1 fell $2.50 to below $60 a barrel.
BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 7.1 percent, Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dropped 7.4 percent, BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shed 2.5 percent and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was off 2 percent.
Banks were big blue-chip losers as well, with HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shedding another 6.1 percent following Monday's big U.S. loan writedowns which accompanied the global bank's third quarter results.
Standard Chartered (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 5.3 percent as investors worried that the Asian-oriented bank might need to raise capital.
Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also stood out, down 8.0 percent, as the HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) takeover saga dragged on, with uncertainties about whether any counter proposals could be made to the agreed deal. HBOS shares shed 5.3 percent.
British prime minister Gordon Brown said during a press conference Tuesday that no other serious bid for HBOS has come forward [ID:nLAL002065].
VODAFONE RINGS UP GAINS
Vodafone shares gained 9.3 percent to top the FTSE 100 leader board after reporting first-half results slightly ahead of expectations.
The mobile phones group cut its full-year revenue outlook and will reduce costs by 1 billion pounds, but increased its forecast for free cash flow.
Ben Timms of Blue Index, however, highlighted a closing of short positions in Vodafone rather than any buying expectations.
Intercontinental Hotels dropped 5.2 percent after the world's largest hotelier beat forecasts with a 14 percent rise in third-quarter profit but warned it saw a sharp deterioration in market conditions in October.
Cookson Group (CKSN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was the top FTSE 250 .FTMC faller, down 14 percent after the industrial materials group said its 2008 performance would fall short of management expectations.
Housebuilders were weak after two reports illustrated the parlous state of the UK housing market, and after a gloomy trading update from Taylor Wimpey (TW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), down 13.1 percent.
British house prices fell 5.1 percent on a year ago in September, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government. [ID:nONS003897]
A survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed British house prices fell slightly less sharply in the three months to October than in the three months to September, but home sales hit the lowest level in at least 30 years. [ID:nLAG003113]
And in other glum economic news, British retail sales fell for a fifth straight month in October on a like-for-like basis and by the biggest amount in more than three years the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium showed. [ID:nLAG003112]
