London - Britain's top equity index gave up ground on Tuesday after a rally the day before, with Glencore and other mining shares retreating.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which had risen 2.8 percent on Monday, was little changed, down 0.1 percent at 6,296.06 points at 1105 GMT.
Mining and trading giant Glencore, which fell to record lows late last month amid worries over its debts and falling prices for commodities, had risen 21 percent on Monday.
It fell back 3.4 percent on Tuesday, along with other mining stocks, as analysts at HSBC cut their price targets on Glencore and on Antofagasta.
“There's that general feeling that there's more solvency in the business, that again after those massive gains yesterday, to be off ... at the minute, I think that's a pretty good performance,” Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said.
JNF Capital's Roderic Owen-Thomas noted that Glencore Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg had bought more than 100 million Glencore shares last month. Owen-Thomas said that to him that meant Glencore was a worthwhile speculative buy.
“A lot of investors are getting out of the mining sector because of the concerns about slowing demand, but I'm quite keen on Glencore. You have to be prepared for a wild ride and you'd need deep pockets, though,” said Owen-Thomas.
SABMiller fell 3 percent, with traders citing a report that it rejected an informal offer from AB Inbev .
The brewer was also down earlier in the session after adverse currency movements hurt its results.
In the mid-caps, British baker Greggs jumped 7.2 percent after it reported on Wednesday that growth for the year will be ahead of its forecast, its third increase in full-year guidance in less than six months.
The northern England-based chain highlighted the well-received extension of its sandwich and flatbread range and a good customer reaction to its shop refurbishments.
The FTSE 100 is down by around 4 percent since the start of 2015 and more than 10 percent below a record high of 7 122.74 points reached in April.
REUTERS