FTSE falls again as miners slip

By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index extended the previous session's losses on Tuesday as a sharp decline in metal prices weighed on miners, eclipsing positive updates from companies such as Vodafone and Experian . The UK mining index <.FTNMX1770> fell 0.1 percent after copper prices headed towards a six-year low on a firmer dollar and prolonged economic weakness in top metals consumer China. The mining sector also came under pressure from a bearish Barclays research report. Barclays analysts said it was hard to see what might pull the sector out of its tailspin as an increase in demand seemed unlikely, given the state of China’s economy. They downgraded the sector to "neutral" from "positive". "Metals and miners continue to face strong headwinds as the Chinese economy continues to show no signs of stability," said Jawaid Afsar, senior trader at Securequity. "With a rate hike cycle in the United States possibly starting in December, the sector will face additional pressure as the dollar strength will hurt earnings of mining companies." Anglo American , Antofagasta , Glencore and BHP Billiton fell between 0.6 and 4.7 percent. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> was down 0.3 percent at 6,275.28 points at the close after shedding 0.9 percent in the previous session. The index is down more than 4 percent so far this year. However, it was not all doom and gloom as shares in some specific companies were supported by earnings updates. "There have been some good signals from companies in terms of their core performance," said Jonathan Roy, advisory investment manager at Charles Hanover Investments. "However ... people aren’t really trading as much on expectations of earnings, but more on the short-term sentiment and how that sentiment is being impacted by the possibility of an interest rate hike from the U.S." Vodafone rose 3.9 percent after the world's second largest mobile operator reported a better-than-expected acceleration in revenue growth in the second quarter, helping it return to earnings growth for the first half and nudge its annual expectations towards the top of its guidance. Mobile telecoms was the best performing sector on the FTSE, with the FT350 Mobile Telecommunications index <.FTNMX6570> rising 3.8 percent, its biggest daily gain since August. Experian shares rose 7.5 percent after the world's biggest credit data company raised its interim dividend by 2 percent and said it had achieved good organic revenue growth momentum. Shares in small-cap company Premier Foods surged 17.5 percent after demand for products like Oxo seasonings and Bisto gravy helped it report its first quarterly branded food sales gain in two years. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Ralph Boulton)