Sector movers: Miners retreat

Mining stocks fall back, including Rio Tinto, which was accused by China of overcharging the country's iron mills by over $100bn over the past six years.The allegations were published by the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets, which claimed Rio Tinto had spied on Chinese steel mills for six years, resulting in overpayments totalling $102bn.Elsewhere in the sector though, Mano River Resources moves higher after the gold miner had a lucrative license granted by the Liberian government.Atlantic Coal, which mines for the fuel in the US state of Pennsylvania, is also higher after it raised £280,000 via a placing of 42.75m shares at 0.66p each.Friends Provident leads the life insurance sector higher after it moved closer to agreeing a takeover by Resolution after the terms of the original offer were improved sufficiently for talks to start between the two sides.Top performing sectors so far todayReal Estate 1,943.99 +1.74%Fixed Line Telecommunications 1,928.91 +1.54%Life Insurance 3,348.04 +1.41%Gas, Water & Multiutilities 3,460.35 +1.23%Oil Equipment Services & Distribution 13,806.49 +1.03%Bottom performing sectors so far todayForestry & Paper 2,908.27 -3.23%Mining 15,678.19 -2.87%Industrial Transportation 1,767.39 -1.57%Industrial Metals 4,753.49 -1.44%General Retailers 1,600.88 -1.31%