UK's FTSE 100 falls as weak China data hurts miners

By Shashwat Chauhan and Rupali Chaudhary

(Reuters) -The UK's FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday as mining firms dipped after China's manufacturing activity contracted in July, outweighing upbeat earnings from firms including HSBC and Weir Group.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 and the more domestically focused FTSE 250 midcap index both closed down 0.4%.

Industrial metal miners fell 1.1% as prices of most base metals slipped on worries about demand from top consumer China, after the country's manufacturing activity swung to contraction in July. [MET/L]

Hurting energy stocks such as BP and Shell, oil prices edged lower on signs of profit-taking after rallying in July.

"A lot of (gains) that we saw in the FTSE over the past few days came from commodity-based stocks," says Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

"They're seeing some profit taking today because of some disappointing Chinese manufacturing news."

Shares of China-exposed insurer Prudential Plc fell 2.1%.

Factory activity in other parts of the world also remained in a slump in July, private surveys showed.

Limiting losses, HSBC rose 1.3% and touched a four-year high earlier in the session, after Europe's largest bank raised its key performance target.

Weir Group jumped 2.2% to the top of the FTSE 100 after the engineering firm raised full-year revenue and profit guidance.

The beverages index added 1.7% as Diageo rose 0.3% after the world's largest spirits maker beat full-year sales forecasts.

Markets now await the Bank of England's decision on monetary policy on Thursday, with consensus tilted towards a 25 basis point hike by the central bank.

British stocks have started August on a softer note after logging gains in July on data showing easing in domestic inflation.

Among other stocks, British hedge fund manager Man Group fell 5.5% after a disappointing performance across several funds.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Rupali Chaudhary in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Jan Harvey)