LONDON, Oct 6 - Mining stocks tumbled on Monday on fears the global financial crisis would spark a deeper downturn, hitting demand from China, and after a stake in iron ore producer Ferrexpo was sold at a big discount.
Resources stocks were the biggest losers in Europe, with the DJ DJStoxx basic resources index down 10.5 percent and the UK mining index off 11.1 percent at 1327 GMT.
Worries about softer demand hammered industrial metals prices, as benchmark copper fell almost 8 percent to its lowest level in nearly 20 months.
"Metals prices have much further to fall if global growth continues to slow," said analyst John Meyer at Fairfax investment bank in London.
Fourth quarter contract prices of ferrochrome, a key ingredient of stainless steel, fell by 9-10 percent in Japan and Europe.
Kazakh mining groups Kazakhmys and ENRC, a major ferrochrome producer, were the biggest losers in the FTSE 100, falling 21.8 percent and 20.8 percent respectively, while Mexican silver producer Fresnillo shed 14.2 percent and India-focused Vedanta lost 14 percent.
Analyst Michael Rawlinson at Liberum Capital said investors were probably worried after Ferrexpo's owner sold a 20.8 percent stake at a 30 percent discount due to JP Morgan calling in a loan, for which the shares were held as collateral.
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