UK shares underperform Europe, miners fall after China data

* FTSE 100 down 0.2 pct, miners top losers

* Shire falls on declined drug approval

* Barclays rises on media report (Adds detail)

By Kit Rees

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index slippedon Monday as mining stocks took a hit from data showing Chineseeconomic growth slowing, while drugmaker Shire dipped on asetback in the United States for a dry eye treatment.

Britain's FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent at6,365.24 points at 1122 GMT, underperforming European indexes.

Among the heaviest fallers were mining companies as metalsprices slipped following Chinese economic growth data, whichshowed that growth in the world's second-largest economy slowedin the third quarter.

While the data came in slightly better than expected, growthwas at its weakest since 2009, reflecting headwinds from asluggish global economy that is denting its demand for metals.

Anglo American fell 5 percent, and Glencore, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and RioTinto were all down between 1 and 2.6 percent.

Analysts also cited Chinese manufacturing data, which camein weaker than forecast.

"I suspect that, given the relatively poor performance ofmanufacturing, that is probably a reason why  mining stockshave taken a little bit of a dent," Laith Khalaf, senior analystat Hargreaves Lansdown said, adding that it meant less demandthan might have been anticipated for mining companies' products.

Despite a 5 percent rally so far in October, the FTSE 100remains down over 10 percent from all-time highs hit in April,rocked by growing concern during the summer over the state ofChina's economy.

Pharmaceutical company Shire dropped 1.1 percentafter the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined toapprove its dry eye drug, lifitegrast, and requested anadditional clinical study.

"We believe the CRL (Complete Response Letter) was fairlywell anticipated by the market, with Shire having been warningof the risk of a delay, pending more clinical data for the lastfew months. Nonetheless, we still expect underperformancetoday," analysts at JPMorgan wrote in a note.

Barclays rose 0.9 percent, the top FTSE 100 riser,after a report in the Financial Times that the company willaccelerate the reduction of its investment bank.