BUZZ-Tobacco and spirits stocks dive on yuan jitters

** Tobacco and spirits stocks down 1-3 pct after China devalues the yuan following a run of poor economic data

** British American Tobacco, which has a JV with China National Tobacco Corp, was down 2.2 pct and Imperial Tobacco falls 2.4 pct

** China - with over 300 million smokers- is the second biggest tobacco market in the world after the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news)

** Spirits makers such as Britain's Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) fell 1.5 pct, SABMiller (Xetra: BRW1.DE - news) down 2 pct, Pernod Ricard (Paris: FR0000120693 - news) declines 2.4 pct while Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BR> down 2.3 pct, hurt by a slowdown in China

** The yuan hit a four-year low after China pushed the currency down overnight following Tuesday's devaluation.

** The slump in the yuan has also affected carmakers and European luxury goods stocks, for whom China is an important export market

(RM (LSE: RM.L - news) : aastha.agnihotri.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)