- Miners suffer sell-off on macro-economic concerns- US jobs data dampens sentiment- Randgold bounces back after Malian settlementLondon's FTSE 100 index slumped to its lowest levels in 2012 on Tuesday as investors had a four-day weekend to digest a gloomy US jobs report out on Friday. Just a handful of blue chip stocks finished in the blue.The Footsie lost 128 points to finish at 5,596. The last time it closed under that mark was on December 30th when it finished at 5,572.There were signs that the recovery in the US employment market is running out of steam, as US non-farm payrolls data for March disappointed. The US generated 120,000 jobs (seasonally adjusted) in March, well below the 200,000 expected by the market. Private sector payrolls rose by 121,000 while government payrolls were more or less unchanged. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.2% from 8.3% in February, but the decline was entirely down to people taking themselves out of the recruitment market. Also weighing on sentiment today was the rising borrowing costs on Italian and Spanish government debt. The yield on a 10-year Italian bond had risen 24 basis points to 5.7% by the close in London, while the Spanish equivalent was up 21 basis points at 5.94%. China's trade balance came in at a surplus of $5.35bn in March, compared with a deficit of $31.48bn the month before, as exports grew by 8.9% year-on-year (consensus: +7%). However, imports increased by 5.3% (consensus: +9%), down from the near-40% jump in February, spreading fears of a slowdown in domestic demand. FTSE 100: Randgold bucks the trend as miners dropGold miner Randgold Resources was one of just five stocks that finished above water. Shares closed up over 5% after the announcement of a political settlement in Mali which will see the lifting of sanctions against the country by its West African neighbours. "While the effects of the coup are clearly a factor, the 22% markdown in the shares from the prior peak is totally unwarranted," said Prime Markets' Richard Curr, adding that a "window of opportunity exists to go long in the shares".However, the broader mining sector didn't fare as well with blue chip counterparts suffering steep losses by the close. Vedanta Resources was a heavy faller after saying today that it continues to see reduced iron ore sales as a result of the mining ban in the Karnatka state of south-western India. Glencore International fell after confirming that it is embroiled in a legal dispute as a result of its aluminium supply deal with UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer. Meanwhile, banks were also widely sold off, with Barclays, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and HBSC registering losses of 3-6%. RBS and CVC Funds are reported to be looking to raise up to $220m by offloading shares in the Hong Kong stock of luggage manufacturer Samsonite, according to Dow Jones Newswires. FTSE 250: FirstGroup hit by downgrade, Domino Printing on the riseTransport firm FirstGroup was a heavy faller on the second-tier index after Barclays cut its rating from overweight to equal weight. Citigroup also downgraded the stock today. FirstGroup was closely followed by mining peers Talvivaara, Aquarius Platinum and Ferrexpo who were falling in line with the sector. Meanwhile, Domino Printing Sciences was the best performer after it said the value of its investment in egg monitoring firm TEN Media had jumped by $25m in just one year. FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,425.00p +5.24%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 654.00p +2.91%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,532.00p +1.66%G4S (GFS) 273.10p +1.30%Centrica (CNA) 313.60p +0.35%FTSE 100 - FallersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,155.00p -6.48%Barclays (BARC) 206.30p -5.93%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 853.00p -5.90%IMI (IMI) 923.00p -5.38%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,661.00p -5.36%Man Group (EMG) 113.60p -5.10%GKN (GKN) 189.70p -5.06%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,072.00p -5.05%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 29.80p -5.04%Glencore International (GLEN) 392.90p -4.59%FTSE 250 - RisersDomino Printing Sciences (DNO) 570.00p +2.15%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 48.37p +1.19%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 294.80p +0.96%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.7 +0.78%Amlin (AML) 319.60p +0.76%Elementis (ELM) 187.50p +0.75%Victrex (VCT) 1,383.00p +0.58%Pennon Group (PNN) 705.00p +0.50%F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 102.70p +0.49%Britvic (BVIC) 381.30p +0.34%FTSE 250 - FallersAshtead Group (AHT) 232.00p -8.45%Exillon Energy (EXI) 123.00p -7.93%Ocado Group (OCDO) 106.20p -7.25%FirstGroup (FGP) 198.50p -7.20%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 222.80p -7.01%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 671.00p -7.00%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 131.80p -6.99%Supergroup (SGP) 578.00p -6.70%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 272.90p -6.22%Ruspetro (RPO) 197.40p -6.13%BC
Last checked at 
