Britain's FTSE retreats as pharma stocks fall

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* FTSE 100 down 0.8 pct

* Pharma stocks down after Clinton's EpiPen comments

* Glencore leads miners lower

* CRH rises after results

By Kit Rees

LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - UK shares fell on Thursday,extending losses from the previous session as healthcare stocksdropped, though CRH rose after posting results.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.8 percent at6,781.90 points by 0854 GMT in light volumes, outpacing itsEuropean peers.

Healthcare stocks took the most points off the FTSE 100 with

Hikma, Shire and Astrazeneca fallingbetween 2.9 percent to 4.9 percent.

That mirrored losses on Wall Street after Democraticpresidential nominee Hillary Clinton called for a lower pricefor Mylan NV's allergy drug EpiPen, which has becomefour times more expensive in the past decade.

"(This) ... serves to strike fear into the hearts ofhealthcare groups and their investors everywhere," Mike vanDulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said in a note.

"The industry (is) ... treading the fine line betweenbalancing the costs of clinical success (and failure) with theeconomic laws of supply and demand."

A weak copper price, which remained near a two-month low,weighed on the mining sector which was down 1.9percent.

Glencore fell 4.4 percent, extending losses fromthe previous session when it posted a drop in first halfearnings.

Among the top risers, construction firm CRH gained2.7 percent after well-received results, hiking its dividend forthe first time in seven years.

Advertising group WPP extended its rally from theprevious session, up 1.7 percent after a spate of broker pricetarget upgrades on the stock following results on Wednesday.

"We think WPP should be a core holding for long-terminvestors," analysts at Barclays said in a note.

Outside the blue-chips, gambling technology company Playtech hit a record high earlier in the session, rising 3.9percent. It announced a special dividend after reporting an 18percent jump in first-half revenue.

Greg Johnson, analyst at Shore Capital Markets, said in anote, adding that the stock was very cheap for the strongrevenue growth it delivered. (Reporting by Kit Rees; editing by John Stonestreet)