Energy, mining stocks drag down FTSE 100 By Reuters

(Reuters) – London’s FTSE 100 inched lower on Tuesday, dragged by energy and mining stocks as oil and metals prices slipped over fears of slowing demand in China, while Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) jumped after resuming dividend payments.

The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1%, with oil heavyweights BP (LON:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) being the biggest drags on the index. [O/R]

Mining stocks including Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), Anglo American (LON:AAL), and BHP were also among the biggest laggards, falling between 0.9% and 1.1%. [MET/L]

The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose 0.2%.

Meanwhile, British house price growth picked up unexpectedly in February, rising to 6.9% in annual terms from 6.4% in January, mortgage lender Nationwide said.

Taylor Wimpey, Britain’s third-largest homebuilder, rose 3.4% to the top of the blue-chip index, as it said the 2021 selling season has started well ahead of possible additional incentives for the sector in the budget.

Travis Perkins (LON:TPK), Britain’s biggest seller of building materials, fell 1.8%, after it restarted the process of demerging its Wickes home improvement business.