London close: ARM and Imagination Technologies lead the slide

Stocks were posting triple-digit losses at the finish, with the FTSE 100 at its lowest closing level for the year so far as worries over global growth intensified.Things got worse after a poor start in the US, where yesterday's deficit-cutting agreement among politicians has done little to assuage fears of a credit rating downgrade.Here, economic news was mixed. The UK service sector saw activity increase at its strongest pace in four months during July. But just to remind us of economic fragility, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the coalition government should ease off its deficit-cutting agenda to improve the outlook for economic growth and employment in Britain. The NIESR says that Britain's public finances will not improve as quickly as the Office for Budget Responsibility, a body set up by the coalition government to supervise its deficit-cutting plans, expects, due to weak growth and consumer spending.Turning to stocks, there was a raft of company updates, but among the most notable fallers were chip companies ARM and Imagination Technologies, whose technology is used in smartphones and therefore depend on global economic growth.However, precious metal miners were in demand as investors sought a haven from the turmoil. Latin American-focused duo Fresnillo and Hochschild were in demand.Turning to company updates insurance group Legal & General upped its dividend by a quarter in the first half, despite recording a £64m fall in pre-tax profits, but was still among the heaviest fallers. The firm paid out £97m to investors by way of an interim dividend, which was raised by 25% from 1.33p per share to 1.66p per share, driven by strong cash generation. Struggling travel operator Thomas Cook took off after it said its chief executive officer Manny Fontenla-Novoa will step down immediately and appointed deputy head Sam Weihagen to temporarily take charge of the company. But it was in the red by the close of play.Rexam held onto some of its gains though. The world's largest beverage can maker reported sparkling first half profits as better than expected demand for beverage cans in Europe offset the weakness in its plastic packaging unit. For the first-half of the year, total sales were flat at £2.49bn. For the period, organic operating profit for the beverage can segment rose 12%, whereas operating profit for the plastic packaging business fell 2%. Oil exploration group Cairn Energy was unwanted after a disappointing update on progress in its drilling campaign offshore Greenland. Despite the initial promising analysis in the South Ungavva area, the LF7-1 exploration well has not met its target.Evolution Group jumped after the wealth management firm said it had received a preliminary approach for the company, but did not disclose the suitor's name. It said discussions with the potential buyer are in the "very early stage" and added that it is "far from certain that it will ultimately result in an offer being made." Datong, the provider of covert intelligence gathering solutions, saw a steep fall in its share price after it said that it expects sales in the second half of the year to fall short of expectations in its markets excluding the United Kingdom. The company continues to record strong performance in its core markets - USA and UK - but due to the extended lead times in the rest of its markets and a slow-down in Europe, it expects revenues and profits to be materially lower than previously expected for the year to 30 September. Beacon Hill Resources (BHR)fell after it said it had extended its proposed acquisition of licence 1165 (1165L) in the Moatize coal basin in Northern Mozambique. The miner said its exclusivity deal with Global Minerals and Metals (GMM) to acquire 100% in the coal licence area would be extended by 60 days to 3 October 2011. FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 1,908.00p +5.24%Rexam (REX) 368.60p +4.18%Lonmin (LMI) 1,237.00p +2.57%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,317.00p +2.09%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,533.00p +2.00%United Utilities Group (UU.) 600.50p +1.61%National Grid (NG.) 610.50p +1.33%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 340.00p +1.31%Centrica (CNA) 305.30p +1.13%Vodafone Group (VOD) 170.75p +1.07%FTSE 100 - FallersGlencore International (GLEN) 428.15p -6.61%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,152.00p -5.19%Cairn Energy (CNE) 334.80p -5.08%SABMiller (SAB) 2,164.00p -4.90%IMI (IMI) 943.50p -4.75%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,112.50p -4.67%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 104.60p -4.65%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,121.50p -4.48%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,199.00p -4.46%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,121.00p -4.22%FTSE 250 - RisersHochschild Mining (HOC) 510.00p +4.92%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 512.50p +4.04%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 368.00p +3.72%Halfords Group (HFD) 311.80p +2.57%Petropavlovsk (POG) 768.00p +2.06%Dignity (DTY) 841.00p +1.94%Carpetright (CPR) 577.00p +1.41%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 13.48p +1.28%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,760.00p +1.25%Perform Group (PER) 172.00p +1.18%FTSE 250 - FallersImagination Technologies Group (IMG) 356.20p -7.48%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 46.88p -6.80%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 628.00p -6.34%Misys (MSY) 359.10p -5.75%Spectris (SXS) 1,411.00p -5.62%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 635.00p -5.37%Beazley (BEZ) 120.70p -5.33%Lamprell (LAM) 348.80p -5.29%Kofax (KFX) 310.00p -5.20%Bodycote (BOY) 347.00p -5.14%