UK FTSE posts biggest one-day fall in over a week
* FTSE 100 closes down 3 pct, its biggest one-day fall in
over a week
* Disappointing China data rattles global markets
* Only one FTSE 100 components closes in positive territory
* Mining stocks BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) down over 6 pct
* Engineering firm Meggitt (Other OTC: MEGGF - news) is top gainer
(Refiles to remove UPDATE tag in headline)
By Kit Rees and Lionel Laurent
LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The UK FTSE 100 slumped 3 percent
on Tuesday, its worst one-day fall in over a week, with miners
hit hardest after a slump in the manufacturing sector in China -
the world's biggest commodity consumer.
All but one FTSE 100 stock closed in negative
territory on Tuesday, London's first trading day of the week
after a public holiday on Monday.
Policymakers worldwide have turned more interventionist with
a surge in market volatility to levels not seen since the 2008
financial crisis. China's central bank has already repeatedly
intervened to stabilise the yuan since its Aug. 11 devaluation
sent shockwaves through global markets.
"We are sellers across the board," said Mark Ward, head of
execution trading at London-based Sanlam Securities. "People are
getting back from holidays and trying to make sense of what is
going on.
"The China headlines are not helping but I would say it's
probably more down to sentiment than a huge shift in the actual
economic outlook."
The FTSE 100 lagged the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300
, down 2.9 percent.
"As it stands we've pretty much wiped off any of the gains
we saw last Friday ... it does seem like this could be another
return to the lows we saw last week, particularly if we don't
see any effects from the Chinese interventions any time soon,"
said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group.
China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to
49.7 in August from the previous month's reading of 50.0, the
weakest showing in three years.
That was followed by releases of weak PMI data for both
Britain and the euro zone showing manufacturing growth had eased
last month.
The index's top gainer was engineering components firm
Meggitt, rising 2.4 percent, with a trader citing a
pick-up in auto sales and a government pledge to spend more than
500 million pounds refurbishing a nuclear submarine base in
Scotland. [ID:nL5N1172TB}
Miners Glencore, Anglo American and BHP
Billiton were down more than 6 percent, leading the
fallers as metals prices fell on China demand fears.
In the mid caps, China worries also hit shares of hedge-fund
manager Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) , down 6.8 percent after the boss of
its China unit was reportedly taken into custody as part of a
probe into the causes of recent market volatility.
(Reporting by Lionel Laurent; Editing by John Stonestreet and
Raissa Kasolowsky)