London close: Stocks sink ahead of Fed minutes

- Concerns about Japan and Greece pressure stocks- FOMC minutes eyed- CBO warns about 'fiscal cliff'Following steep falls from the off, losses on the Footsie were cemented today after a poor start on Wall Street as global equity markets reacted poorly to economic data from Japan and ongoing issues in Greece, while awaiting for the minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in the US."The attention now turns to the Fed's meeting minutes, due after the European close - the minutes will be under scrutiny given that US economic data over the past few weeks has improved, leading to a scale back in expectations of QE. Markets are looking for some insight over the Fed's stance for upcoming policy meetings," said market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital.Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned today that the US economy could shrink in 2013 if the Bush-era tax cuts expire and automatic spending cuts take effect in January.Back in London, mining stocks were among the worst performers as they were weighed down by the news that Japan swung to a trade deficit of 517.4bn yen (£4.14bn) in July, from a surplus of 60.3bn yen in July, on the back of slowing demand in Asia and the Eurozone crisis. Analysts were expecting a deficit of 270bn yen. Markets were concerned today about the upcoming meetings between Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Eurozone leaders this week as he attempts to renegotiate the terms of the country's bailout. He is widely expected to outline a plan aimed at cutting €13.5bn in expenditures over the next two years after coming to the conclusion that the original €11.5bn demanded by the Troika would lead to a €2bn shortfall. However, it is predicted that he will ask for a two-year extension to comply with the deficit target. "All we want is a bit of 'air to breathe' to get the economy running and to increase state income. More time does not automatically mean more money," Samaras has said. FTSE 100: BHP leads miners lowerMetals and mining stocks dropped today after Japanese trade data disappointed, weighed on the outlook for demand. BHP Billiton fell after saying that weakness in commodity markets and industry-wide cost pressures resulted in earnings declining in the first half. The group also decided against spending up to $30bn on a uranium and copper mine extension in South Australia. Evraz, Fresnillo, Kazakhmys and Rio Tinto were also heavy fallers, while ENRC was lower after being downgraded by both UBS and Citigroup to 'neutral'. However, it should be noted that ENRC, along with FTSE 100 counterparts CRH, InterContinental Hotels, Prudential and Standard Life, all went ex-dividend today. B&Q owner Kingfisher was a heavy faller after Deutsche Bank lowered its recommendation for the stock to 'hold' and cut its target price from 340p to 315p. Drinks giant Diageo finished the day flat ahead of its full-year results on Thursday. Charles Stanley is expecting the firm to deliver a good set of full year results. "Asia, Africa and Latin America are expected to have been the drivers of growth, with more subdued performances in North America and Europe," notes Charles Stanley analyst Sam Hart. Meanwhile, engineering group IMI sank before its interim results announcement tomorrow.FTSE 250: Spirax-Sarco falls as first-half profits decline Steam trap and pump maker company Spirax-Sarco was out of favour after reporting a decline in first-half pre-tax profits following higher material costs, the impact of lower volumes in its main European factories and the economic downturn in Latin America. Jefferies said this morning to expect consensus downgrades after a "somewhat disappointing" set of results. Bus and rail group Stagecoach fell after revealing a decline in like-for-like revenue at its UK bus operations as all of its other divisions grew in the twelve weeks ended July 22nd. Heading the other way was waste management firm Shanks after saying that the Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow is no longer sending any of its waste to landfill since appointing Shanks to handle its recycling. Shanks won the recycling contract just six weeks ago, and has been instrumental in ramping up the shopping centre's recycling rate from 9% to 97%. FTSE 100 - RisersSSE (SSE) 1,354.00p +1.20%Gemfields (GEM) 37.00p +0.68%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,379.00p +0.29%FTSE 100 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 704.50p -4.15%Evraz (EVR) 255.50p -3.88%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 356.00p -3.84%Anglo American (AAL) 1,910.00p -3.68%Vedanta Resources (VED) 931.50p -3.62%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,526.00p -3.48%IMI (IMI) 883.50p -3.12%Kingfisher (KGF) 285.10p -3.03%CRH (CRH) 1,129.00p -3.01%Prudential (PRU) 790.50p -2.83%FTSE 250 - RisersShanks Group (SKS) 88.00p +3.47%NMC Health (NMC) 196.40p +3.37%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 360.00p +2.86%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 208.00p +1.46%Savills (SVS) 399.20p +1.45%PayPoint (PAY) 712.00p +1.28%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 107.30p +1.23%Afren (AFR) 131.00p +1.08%Redrow (RDW) 143.20p +0.99%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 17.56p +0.92%FTSE 250 - FallersYule Catto & Co (YULC) 149.70p -7.19%Homeserve (HSV) 218.00p -5.75%Soco International (SIA) 336.00p -5.27%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 147.90p -4.58%Man Group (EMG) 76.80p -4.42%Bodycote (BOY) 352.40p -4.21%Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 1,977.00p -4.03%Ocado Group (OCDO) 67.05p -3.59%Premier Oil (PMO) 376.00p -3.04%Mondi (MNDI) 552.50p -2.99%