By Kit Rees and Alistair Smout
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on Wednesday as miners, luxury stocks and Standard Chartered came under pressure for a second straight session.
The FTSE 100 (FTSE) fell 1.5 percent to 5,874.01 by 1438 GMT, edging into negative territory for the week following a strong rally last week that was the biggest weekly gain for the index this year.
Standard Chartered (L:STAN) was among the worst hit on the index because brokers downgraded their target prices on the Asia-exposed bank after it posted its first loss in 26 years on Tuesday.
It slumped 5.7 percent after a spate of broker target price downgrades from Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Nomura, taking total losses since it reported the results to around 12 percent.
"The continued weak revenue momentum in 4Q15 was worse than anticipated," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
"Until revenue momentum turns, we think it too early to turn positive on the shares."
Broker target price cuts also hit shares in engineering company GKN (L:GKN), which dropped 3.7 percent, with Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN) citing a more challenging than expected aerospace sector following GKN's underwhelming results reported on Tuesday.
Mining stocks also fell again, with BHP Billiton (L:BLT), Glencore (L:GLEN) and Anglo American (L:AAL) down 8.5-11.3 percent.
Mining (FTNMX1770) was the biggest loser by sector, down for a second straight session and having hit 12-1/2 year lows in January.
BHP Billiton slumped after results in the previous session when it slashed its dividend. While some banks raised their target price on the stock, traders said the results had called time on the sector's rally.
"Mining stocks ... (are) still suffering in light of BHP Billiton’s hacked dividend on Tuesday," Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, said in a note.
Burberry (L:BRBY) dropped 5.3 percent, taking falls since Tuesday to over 9 percent, as the luxury sector continued to come under pressure following a poorly received update from peer Hugo Boss (DE:BOSSn).
Housebuilders were among the top gainers, after well-received results from Barrat Developments (L:BDEV). That announcement further boosted sentiment in the sector to after Persimmon (L:PSN), extended its gains after results on Tuesday.
