LONDON MARKETS: Resource-sector Shares Weigh On FTSE 100

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch Bank of England holds key rate at 0.5%

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped Thursday, weighed down by losses from resource-sector companies, but shares of travel operators easyJet PLC and TUI Travel PLC moved higher.

At the same time, the pound was largely unchanged against the U.S. dollar after the Bank of England made no change in monetary policy, as expected.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 6,711.05. The index declined 0.4% on Wednesday, during which investors assessed the closely watched Autumn Statement, a wide-ranging update on the state of the U.K. economy and the government's policy plans.

On the losing end of the FTSE 100, Rio Tinto PLC shares fell 1.8%, with the mining heavyweight saying at an investor seminar that "[w]hile the long-term horizon remains robust, the near-term outlook is more challenging." Rio Tinto also said total capital expenditure is below $8.5 billion forecast for 2014, and operating and exploration costs will be reduced by $5.4 billion by the end of 2015.

Shares of miners Anglo American PLC and BHP Billiton PLC also fell, by 2.2% and 1.5%, respectively.

Goldman Sachs said in a note dated Dec. 3 that it's retaining its sell rating on the iron-ore miner. It added that Rio Tinto is the most exposed in its iron-ore coverage to continued pressure from additional supply and moderating demand growth in China. Rio Tinto was removed from Goldman's pan-European conviction sell list.

Oil stocks were again in the red, resuming a recent run of declines as the oil industry grapples with a steep fall in crude prices. Shares of Tullow Oil PLC fell 1.5%, BP PLC moved 1.8% lower and Royal Dutch Shell PLC gave up 1.1%.

Budget carrier easyJet PLC was among the winners on Wednesday, as the U.K. government said it will exempt children from taxes on economy-class flights. On Thursday, easyJet shares jumped 2.1% as the company logged 3.1% growth in passengers in November. Load factor, or the percentage of seats filled with passengers, rose to 89.5% from 89%.

Shares of TUI Travel picked up 4% as the vacation-package provider posted an 11% rise in fiscal 2014 underlying operating profit on a constant currency basis, surpassing its recently raised forecast.

Also higher Thursday, Unilever PLC rose 2% on the consumer-products maker's decision to turn its spreads division -- which includes the Bertolli margarine brand -- into a stand-alone company, as the unit weighs on the rest of business.

Back to sterling (GBPUSD) , the currency was buying $1.5669 compared with $1.5672 ahead of the Bank of England's statement that it's keeping its key rate at 0.5% and maintaining the size of its asset-purchase plan at 375 billion pounds ($588.65 billion). The pound late Wednesday fetched $1.5685.

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