London open: Stocks drop on US jobs report

- Markets digest Friday's US jobs data- Rising exports push China into trade surplus- Randgold bounces back after Malian settlementAfter a long weekend, the FTSE 100 fell sharply in early trade on Tuesday on the back of a mixed performance by the miners and a decline in the banking sector, as investors digested a gloomy jobs report from the US on Friday.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. Pundits suggest, therefore, that the fall in the unemployment rate is a bad sign, as it indicates people are giving up the ghost when it comes to chasing a new job.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. Meanwhile closer to home, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK house price balance for the month of March showed a small improvement, to -10 points - the highest reading since June 2010 - from -13 the month before. The consensus estimate was for a reading of -12. FTSE 100: MINERS MIXED, BANKS TUMBLEThe banks were leading the decline in London early on, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds registering heavy losses. Banks across Europe were the worst performers on Tuesday morning on the back of weak US data - the STOXX Europe 600 Banks index fell by 2.3%. HSBC was falling after saying that it is in talks about a possible sale of its retail banking and wealth management business in Korea.Mining giant Vedanta Resources continues to see reduced iron ore sales as a result of the mining ban in the Karnatka state of south-western India. Sales of iron ore in the three months to the end of March were 5.2m tonnes, compared with the 6.6m sold in the same period of 2011. Shares fell by nearly 4%.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.In contrast, gold miner Randgold Resources jumped over 8% after the announcement of a political settlement in Mali which will see the lifting of sanctions against the country by its West African neighbours. "Our production guidance for 2012 remains unchanged, although we have not completed our assessment of the impact this situation has had on costs," Chief Executive Mark Bristow revealed. Russian miner Polymetal was also in demand after it celebrated its first gold pour at the Amursk POX facility last week and expects full capacity at the plant later this year.FTSE 250: RATHBONE RISES, COBHAM FALLSInvestment manager Rathbone Brothers was the high riser on the second-tier index after announcing on Thursday afternoon that its wholly owned subsidiary, Rathbone Investment Management, has completed the acquisition of the wealth management firm RM Walkden & Co. Cobham, which specialises in meeting the demand for data, connectivity and bandwidth in defence, security and commercial environments, fell after announcing that it is to have another crack at Danish satellite communications outfit Thrane and Thrane.Insurance firm Lancashire Holdings was out of favour after rolling over a credit facility with its bankers for another five years.FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,585.00p +8.34%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 650.00p +2.28%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,551.00p +0.78%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,782.50p +0.20%Polymetal International (POLY) 933.00p +0.11%Carnival (CCL) 1,921.00p +0.10%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,508.00p +0.07%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 703.50p -0.07%United Utilities Group (UU.) 595.50p -0.17%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,511.00p -0.17%FTSE 100 - FallersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,188.00p -3.81%Amec (AMEC) 1,092.00p -3.19%ICAP (IAP) 366.80p -3.12%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,702.00p -3.02%Barclays (BARC) 212.70p -3.01%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,370.50p -2.59%Glencore International (GLEN) 401.15p -2.59%ARM Holdings (ARM) 585.00p -2.50%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,101.00p -2.48%IMI (IMI) 951.50p -2.46%FTSE 250 - RisersRathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,291.00p +2.06%Kier Group (KIE) 1,118.00p +0.99%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 64.40p +0.94%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 562.50p +0.90%SDL (SDL) 754.50p +0.87%Grainger (GRI) 106.40p +0.85%KCOM Group (KCOM) 71.85p +0.84%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 415.70p +0.82%PayPoint (PAY) 660.00p +0.76%Berendsen (BRSN) 522.50p +0.38%FTSE 250 - FallersFirstGroup (FGP) 204.00p -4.63%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 230.00p -4.01%Ashtead Group (AHT) 244.60p -3.47%Cookson Group (CKSN) 686.50p -3.31%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,150.00p -3.29%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 137.10p -3.25%Logica (LOG) 86.70p -3.13%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 161.70p -3.12%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 457.60p -2.99%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 76.50p -2.92%BC