FTSE marred by miners

As of 8.40am, the benchmark blue-chip index had fallen 19.96 points (0.47%) to 4,260.02. The top five worst performing stocks were miners, with Xstrata, Antofagasta, Lonmin, BHP Billiton and Anglo American all falling soon after the markets opened. Xstrata, having reportedly ramped up its merger talks with Anglo American, fell 2.93% to 655p, while the latter company slipped 1.76% to £17.88. Elsewhere, the index was expected to be affected by news BP has appointed the current chief executive officer of Ericsson, Carl-Henric Svanberg, to replace Peter Sutherland as chairman. Stock...