Mining and tobacco firms weigh on FTSE By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.K. benchmark stock index declined on Wednesday as markets across Europe lost momentum as investors lowered expectations for further monetary-policy easing. The FTSE 100 UK:UKX -0.39% was off 0.4% at 5,843.42, after closing at its highest level since April 2 on Tuesday. European stocks fell as strong retail sales in the U.S. on Tuesday dashed hopes for further monetary easing, while the Financial Times reported that Greece would seek a two-year extension of its austerity program. See: Europe stocks off as easing expectations wane. In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday that the unemployment rate was 8% for the three months to June 2012, down 0.2 percentage points over the quarter. See: U.K. unemployment falls to 8% in second quarter . Elsewhere in the U.K., minutes released by the Bank of England showed that the central bank voted 9-0 to leave key interest rates unchanged in August. See: BOE unanimous in Aug. monetary policy decision Mining firms led the downward trend, with Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO -4.39% RIO -0.95% easing 2.7% and Anglo American PLC UK:AAL -1.00% slipping 2.9% while BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT -1.77% BHP -0.46% was off 1.7%. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC UK:ENRC -4.99% fell 4.3% after releasing results for the first half of the year in which revenue fell 19% and underlying earnings before interest, taxes, dividends and amortization dropped 41%. Chief Executive Felix Vulis said, “ENRC has shown a resilient performance in the first half of 2012, a period characterized by deepening economic uncertainty and declining prices for our key products. In light of these market conditions we have concentrated on controlling our costs and enhancing productivity.� Metals prices were lower. Tobacco companies also added pressure after an Australian law was passed banning almost all branding from cigarette packaging. See: Tobacco giants fail to stop new Australia law Imperial Tobacco Group PLC UK:IMT -1.93% fell 1.7% and British American Tobacco PLC UK:BATS -1.61% BTI -0.14% was down 0.3%. Vodafone PLC UK:VOD -0.78% VOD +0.23% slipped 0.8% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the telecommunications firm to neutral from buy. Moving in the other direction, life insurance firm Resolution Ltd. UK:RSL +6.27% was up 6.9% after releasing results for the first half of the year. The company announced it would be “simplifying the governance structure� and raised interim dividends by 5%. Standard Chartered PLC UK:STAN +3.87% was up 4.2% after it announced late Tuesday that it would pay $340 million to settle with New York’s Department of Financial Services. See: Standard Chartered to pay regulator $340 mln Preeti Upadhyaya is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.

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