LONDON

BRITAIN’S top share index ended lower on Wednesday, with poor US data reigniting concerns about the pace of recovery in the world’s biggest economy and hurting growth-linked sectors such as mining and banking.

Miners extended losses in afternoon trading after the ADP National Employment Report showed lower than forecast private sector jobs were added in March, while the Institute for Supply Management’s services sector index came in below expectations.

The UK Mining Index fell 2.4%, taking the yearly losses to 12%, against a 9% rise by the FTSE 100 Index this year. ENRC, Xstrata and BHP Billiton fell by between 2% to 4.6%.

The UK Banking Index fell 1.6%, with Barclays down 2.8% and Standard Chartered down 1.4%.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 Index finished 70.38 points, or 1.1%, lower at 6,420.28. — Reuters