Miners drop FTSE

BHP Billiton, one of the world's largest mining companies, lost 9p to 510.5p on concern that increasing supply will depress metal prices. Antofagasta, a miner, shed 22p to 1,058p, and Rio Tinto, an iron-ore exporter, also lost 1.9% to 1,377p. Lastminute.com dropped 5p to 220p after the website said its second-quarter gross profit margin was little changed from the previous quarter. Xansa gained 3.5p to 92p. The computer-service provider has been selected to work with the Office for National Statistics. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 121.38 points to 12,079.70 earli...