FTSE dips as weak retailers offset miners’ rally

Britain's leading share index dipped early on Thursday, as retailers fell after some disappointing results and offset a rally from miners sparked by a recovery in commodity prices.
By 0801 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was 17.6 points, or 0.3%, lower at 5,348.6, after losing 0.9% on Wednesday.
Investors also remained cautious over any further fallout in the financial sector after U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers failed on Wednesday to alleviate worries about its ability to survive.
U.S. stocks rose overnight as OPEC's move to shore up oil prices boosted energy shares and Texas Instruments' outlook soothed fears about technology spending.
"A bit of a bounce in mining stocks is a focus in an otherwise quieter London market today," said Ben Timms, senior trader at Blue Index, "with the obvious comment being that the sector is looking oversold again."
"Retailers are being sold off aggressively once more, with the global slowdown and inflation worries remaining underlying issues," Timms added. "But with only the latest weekly U.S. jobless numbers due this afternoon, and the August Fed Budget, scheduled after the London close, UK stocks look likely to drift after the recent volatile showings."
Morrison Supermarkets was the top FTSE 100 faller, down 5 after the supermarket group's in-line first-half results failed to inspire.
Cazenove said "there is not obviously an upgrade in these numbers and the relatively muted operational gearing despite very strong top line performance does suggest that the trajectory of margin progression is becoming much flatter".
Shares in Home Retail lost 8%, making them the top faller on the mid-cap FTSE 250 index, after worse-than-expected second-quarter results at both its businesses, Argos and Homebase.
Gloom from the high street also hit Kingfisher, down 2.5% with Bernstein cutting its rating to "market perform" from "outperform".