Britain's top share index ended slightly higher on Wednesday after commodity stocks recovered from falling sharply earlier in the session because of concerns about economic growth in China. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.28 percent higher at 6,721.51 points after a choppy session, which saw the index rising as high as 6,738.95 and falling to 6,693.80.
-- Domino Printing up after Brother Industries' bid
"Miners turned late in the session to help the FTSE end higher. They have fallen a fair bit and some consolidation has helped them to turn around," Securequity trader Jawaid Afsar, said. "However there is potential for miners to fall again as concerns about China's economic outlook haunts the sector." The UK mining index fell more than 1 percent earlier in the day after data showed growth in China's investment, retail sales and factory output all missed forecasts in January and February. However, the mining index bounced back later to end 0.1 percent higher.
Traders said the broader stock market also got some support after the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said Britain's economy probably grew by 0.6 percent in the three months to February, the same pace as in the three months to January. Among the big movers, mid-cap N Brown Group fell 17 percent after the British online and catalogue-based retailer of plus-size apparel retailer cut its full-year profit forecast for the second time.
"N Brown blamed a challenging autumn for lowering its full year profit expectations. However, its slowdown may raise questions about renewed competition from established clothing retailers as they move into more multi-channel offerings," said Lewis Sturdy, a dealer at London Capital Group. Shares in another mid-cap company, Cairn Energy, fell 15.5 percent after filing a dispute notice against the Indian income tax department over a $1.6 billion tax claim. However, Domino Printing Sciences, surged 30.5 percent after the board of the company, which makes barcode printers, accepted a 1.03 billion-pound ($1.55 billion) takeover offer from Japan's Brother Industries Ltd.
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