By Lionel Laurent
LONDON (Reuters) - Top UK shares underperformed their European counterparts on Monday, with mining stocks hit when weaker-than-expected manufacturing figures from China caused global commodity prices to tumble.
The FTSE 100, which is more skewed towards energy and natural resources than many indexes in Europe, closed down 0.1 percent, with the FTSE 350 mining index down over 3 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300, meanwhile, was up 0.6 percent.
UK stocks have underperformed Europe by some 14 percentage points so far this year. Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) downgraded UK stocks last week, citing the risk of an interest-rate increase as well as the commodities sell-off.
"It has been quite relentless for mining stocks ... the London market is quite heavy on commodities stocks and that is not helping things," Sanlam Securities' head of execution, Mark Ward, said.
Data showing UK manufacturing growth picked up in July but new orders grew at the slowest pace in nearly a year did little move share prices.
Shares in testing firm Intertek Group (LONDON:ITRK) jumped more than 11 percent after it posted an improvement in first-half organic growth and maintained its full-year guidance.
HSBC beat expectations with a 10-percent rise in first-half profits and an agreement to sell Banco Bradesco for more than $5 billion. Its shares rose 0.3 percent.
Rolls Royce (LONDON:RR) rose 5.9 percent, extending gains from Friday after an announcement that U.S. activist investor ValueAct had taken a 5.4 percent stake.
Financial-technology company Fidessa fell 16 percent, however, after warning of greater "headwinds" into 2016 as competition among its financial-sector customers might lead to further closures or mergers.