FTSE 100 falls as miners drags index to 5,900

Miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata have slipped by 1% at 8.50am which has driven the index to fall 0.23% to 5,909, mirroring losses made overnight in the US. The Dow Jones slipped 0.38% or 47.38 points to 12,548 after weak manufacturing data dampened investors' optimism. Index heavyweight Vodafone is top of the leaderboard, up 2% to 171p, after posting healthy annual results. The group's pre-tax profits rose to £11bn from £10.6bn, while revenues were up to £45.9bn from £44.5bn. In Asia the Nikkei posted moderate gains, up 0.09% to 9567, with the index dragged down by Tokyo ...