LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Edges Up With Aid From Miners; Ashtead Drops

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks edged up Tuesday, with gains in shares of miners slightly offsetting a fresh round of losses for energy companies.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 6,424.71, with a number of mining shares populating the top end of the benchmark, after figures from HSBC highlighted resilience in the services sector in China, a key market for metals. The services sector is holding up well in the face of a downturn in manufacturing, "providing some counterweight to the downward pressures on the economy," said HSBC's chief economist for China, Qu Hongbin, in a statement.

Shares of iron-ore producer Anglo American PLC rose 1.9%, to lead price performers on the benchmark, and Rio Tinto PLC moved up 1.6%. Randgold Resources Ltd. gained 1.4%.

Meanwhile, Tullow Oil PLC shares fell 1.9%, the lead decliner among oil shares as oil futures (CLG5) fell further, hitting their lowest levels in more than five years.

Struggling at the bottom of the FTSE 100 was industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group PLC , down 7.3% after downgrades for U.S. peer United Rentals Inc. (URI) pushed its shares lower by 11% overnight.

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