BP Share News (BP.)

- Chinese growth forecasts dampens miners.- UK and Eurozone PMIs disappoint.- Steering Committee to participate in Greek debt swap.London's blue chip index fell to its lowest level of the day on Monday as concerns over the global economy dampened the mood. Miners bore the brunt of the sell-off in a day which saw Chinese growth forecasts cut, worse-than-expected services data from the UK and Eurozone, and escalating concerns of the level of participation in the Greek debt-swap agreement.Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao revealed that the country had reduced its gross domestic product (GDP) target for 2012 to 7.5%, the first time below the 8% level in the last eight years. The economy expanded by 9.2% in 2011. "I wish to stress that in setting a slightly lower GDP growth rate, we hope...to guide people in all sectors to focus their work on accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development and making economic development more sustainable and efficient," Wen said. Meanwhile, Europe is awaiting a final decision this week on the Greek debt restructuring. Private investors have a March 8th deadline to decide if they will accept a debt exchange in which they will be required to take a 53.5% haircut in an agreement that would save Athens about €106bn (£88bn). The Greek government has set a 75% participation rate in order to go ahead with the deal by Thursday evening, and so that it can in turn secure a €130bn (£108bn) international bail-out package. Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz (DSW), the group which represents German (private) investors, recommended on its website earlier today that those holding Greek bonds with short maturities should reject the debt exchange offer to avoid a haircut, claiming that losses will be significantly greater for those with bonds maturing this year, as opposed to the new bonds that run for 30 years. However, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has responded, saying, "whoever thinks that they will hold out and be paid in full, is mistaken...We are ready to activate CACs [collective action clauses] if needed," he said in an interview with Reuters. Nevertheless, the Steering Committee of the Private Creditor-Investor Committee for Greece (PCIC) - which includes some of the biggest banks in Europe - have said that they will participate in the debt-swap deal. These include Allianz, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank.In other news, European banks deposited a record €821bn at the European Central Bank over the weekend, following the long-term refinancing operation which saw strong demand last week.ECONOMIC DATA The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers' index (PMI) for February came in at 53.8 points, versus a reading of 56.0 in the month before. The consensus estimate was for 54.8. Meanwhile, the Eurozone service sector PMI fell to 48.8 after the previous month's reading of 50.4. The consensus estimate was for 50.4. A better-than-expected ISM non-manufacturing report from the US did little to boost buying this afternoon, with Wall Street benchmarks opening with moderate losses. The ISM services index rose to 57.3 points in February, from 56.8 the month before, and ahead of consensus expectations of 56.MINERS TANK ON CHINESE OUTLOOK China's decision to lower its forecast for growth in 2012 knocked the miners with Xstrata and Kazakhmys losing over 5% by the close. Sector peers Glencore, Rio Tinto, Vedanta Resources, Fresnillo and Antofagasta were also down, as the news fuelled concerns over how slower economic activity will affect demand for commodities. Commodities trader and producer Glencore was falling despite announcing a 28% increase in full-year revenue for 2011 to $186bn, helped by higher average prices in crude oil (Brent crude up 39%), copper (+17%), wheat (+22%) and gold (+28%). Leading the rise was product testing group Intertek after its 2011 results passed with flying colours, with both revenue and profits ahead of market expectations. Also rising was oil giant BP after having finally reached a $7.8bn settlement to resolve the majority of claims stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010.Oilfield services group Petrofac wasn't far behind after saying that it is growing increasingly confident of hitting its mid-term target of more than doubling its recurring 2010 group earnings by 2015, after a solid 2011. On the FTSE 250, Misys was the best performer after funds advised by CVC Capital Partners and ValueAct Capital Master Fund (the largest shareholder in Misys) were said to be working together on a making a joint cash offer for the financial software provider.BROKER DOWNGRADES TAKE THEIR TOLLDespite the fall in the mining sector, it was outsourcing group Serco that was the worst performer of the day on the Footsie, dropping almost 6% after being hit by a downgrade from Bank of America from buy to neutral. Meanwhile, engineering group Weir was hit after Citi downgraded its rating from sell to neutral and cut its target price from 1,950p to 1,850p. Supermarket giants Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco were all feeling the effects of a downgrade from Oriel Securities. The latter was out of favour despite announcing that it is to create 20,000 new jobs in the UK over the next two years through a significant investment in customer service, redeveloping existing stores and opening new ones. BCFTSE 100 - RisersIntertek Group (ITRK) 2,372.00p +2.51%BP (BP.) 504.60p +1.63%Diageo (DGE) 1,527.50p +1.53%Centrica (CNA) 310.30p +1.34%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,595.00p +1.33%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,526.00p +1.18%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,404.00p +1.04%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,841.00p +0.83%Unilever (ULVR) 2,046.00p +0.79%Compass Group (CPG) 640.00p +0.63%FTSE 100 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 107.10p -5.89%Serco Group (SRP) 527.00p -5.89%Xstrata (XTA) 1,137.50p -4.93%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 951.50p -4.85%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,939.00p -4.67%Glencore International (GLEN) 403.35p -3.96%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,422.00p -3.88%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,400.00p -3.71%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 675.00p -3.43%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,832.00p -3.38%FTSE 250 - RisersMisys (MSY) 335.00p +5.98%Chemring Group (CHG) 428.40p +4.41%Elementis (ELM) 183.70p +4.26%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 113.60p +4.03%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,687.00p +2.24%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 161.00p +2.22%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 440.90p +1.66%International Personal Finance (IPF) 252.00p +1.65%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 130.00p +1.56%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 33.46p +1.39%FTSE 250 - FallersFerrexpo (FXPO) 302.60p -6.11%Exillon Energy (EXI) 222.20p -5.85%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 485.00p -5.46%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 482.80p -5.05%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 136.90p -4.93%Petropavlovsk (POG) 659.00p -4.91%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 166.90p -4.90%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 54.85p -4.61%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 47.39p -4.53%Amlin (AML) 336.00p -4.41%