EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Weighed Down As Miners Lose Ground

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Glencore falls after broker downgrade

European stocks dropped Monday, with the mining sector hit in the wake of disappointing economic data from key resources buyer China.

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.6% to 394.69, losing grip of gains at the open of trade. All but the technology, industrial and health care sectors lost ground.

Energy and the basic resources sectors were the worst performing at the start of the week. Miners, sensitive to China's economic developments, received weak data over the weekend (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-economy-enters-second-half-of-2015-on-weak-note-2015-08-09) with China saying exports in July fell 8.3% from a year earlier and imports dropped 8.1%. On Sunday, the government said the producer-price index marked its biggest year-over-year fall in nearly six years.

The data were "nothing short of ugly and would indicate that a 7% GDP read is very much elusive," said Brenda Kelly, analyst at London Capital Group, in a Monday note.

Shares of Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) fell 2.4%, Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) lost 2.3% and Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) fell 1.3%. Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN)(GLEN.LN) fell 1.3% as Investec cut its rating on the mining heavyweight to sell from buy.

The drops helped push the FTSE 100 (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) lower by 0.7% to 6,672.91. Chinese stocks set aside the data, however, and logged their biggest one-day gain in a month on expectations Beijing will maintain its support (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-stocks-set-for-best-day-in-a-month-2015-08-10) for the market.

In other moves, Germany's DAX 30 was off 1 point at 11,489.52 while France's CAC 40 clung to a 1 point gain at 5,155.86.

Greece's Athex Composite outperformed, rising 1% to 683.14. The Greek government appeared closer to cinching a deal for a third financial bailout following talks with creditors over the weekend (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-steps-closer-to-bailout-deal-as-ecb-deadline-nears-2015-08-10).

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