LONDON (ShareCast) - Mining stocks were dominating the fallers list today as risk appetite waned, with Evraz leading the way and Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton both hit by a downgrade by Goldman Sachs.

Precious metals group Fresnillo dropped after Deutsche Bank cut its rating from 'hold' to 'sell', saying that the current share price is pricing in a near-perfect delivery of their medium-term growth prospects and a recovery in metals prices.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury made modest gains after beating forecasts with its fourth-quarter sales as the firm saw customer transactions grow to a record 22.9m per week.

BAE Systems was in the top spots having released its annual report. In the document the company revealed plans to freeze the salary of its Chief Executive, Ian King, along with those of two other senior management members after the group's earnings per share came in below expectations.

As investors continued to feel uncertainty over the future of the Eurozone typically "safe" stocks, such as utilities, were higher, with Severn Trent, United Utilities, SSE and Centrica all in the top 10.


FTSE 100 - Risers
BAE Systems (BA.) 393.00p +2.37%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 371.70p +1.78%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,671.00p +1.58%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 187.70p +1.49%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,110.00p +1.46%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 692.00p +1.17%
Centrica (CNA) 353.70p +1.06%
SSE (SSE) 1,474.00p +1.03%
Meggitt (MGGT) 482.70p +0.98%
Capita (CPI) 902.00p +0.95%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 232.00p -5.11%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,124.50p -4.65%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,348.00p -3.41%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 890.00p -3.31%
Polymetal International (POLY) 851.50p -3.29%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,989.50p -3.14%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,516.00p -3.01%
Standard Life (SL.) 369.00p -2.89%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,419.00p -2.54%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,830.50p -2.30%

NR

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