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Rio Tinto drags down FTSE 100 Anxiety drags down European markets
(about 2 hours later)
(Open): London's top shares opened sharply lower on Wednesday, with mining giant Rio Tinto among the biggest fallers after it revealed that it had made an annual loss of £596m. London's top shares have fallen nearly 3%, while other European markets have seen even bigger falls, amid anxiety about the health of the global economy.
In the opening minutes, the benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 64.05 points or 1.13% to 5,608.25. In morning trading, the FTSE 100 index fell 165.16 points to 5,507.14.
Rio Tinto was down 3.5%, while fellow miner Antofagasta shed 2.8%. At the same time, share indexes in Frankfurt and Paris were down 3.2% and 3.9% respectively.
However, other firms in the sector fared better. Randgold Resources rose 3.9%, while Fresnillo added 1.1%. Analysts said US Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen's gloomy economic assessment on Wednesday had added to investors' worries.
On the commodities markets, Brent crude was down 0.9% to $30.57, while US light crude fell 1.7% to $26.98. In testimony to Congress, Ms Yellen said financial conditions in the US had become "less supportive" of growth and warned of the "increased volatility" in global financial markets.
On the currency markets, the pound was down 0.23% against the dollar at $1.4490 and 0.33% lower against the euro at €1.2821. Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, economics editor
The great sell off continues.
Why?
It's a mix - part economic fundamentals; part market emotion, as herding investors follow each other down a negative spiral, fearful of being left beached as the tide goes out; and part brute market forces, the major trading houses looking to make a profitable turn on share prices which they bet are not going up any time soon.
Read Kamal in full
On the FTSE 100, the biggest losers were a mix of banks, mining firms and energy stocks.
Mining giant Rio Tinto fell 4.7% after it revealed that it had made an annual loss of £596m.
Fellow miners Glencore and Antofagasta shed 5.8% and 4.5% respectively.
However, other firms in the sector fared better. Randgold Resources rose 4%, while Fresnillo added 5.5%.
In Paris, Societe Generale bank was particularly hard hit, falling more than 14%.
The bank's share price was hit after it said it was scrapping its target of obtaining a 10% return on equity by the end of this year.
On the commodities markets, Brent crude was down 1.6% to $30.36, while US light crude fell 2.8% to $26.67.
On the currency markets, the pound hit a 13-month low against the euro, falling 0.82% to €1.2757.
The currency was also down 0.4% against the dollar at $1.4466.