how far down , page-7

This report (Financial Times today) on last night's FTSE action gives some indication of why we are performing so badly. I can think of one company that now fits the category of "Companies reliant on zinc and nickel".

Metals retreat leads FTSE lower

The London market¡¯s natural resources bias left it lagging a worldwide equity bounce on Wednesday as oil and metal prices retreated.

Traders also pinned the falls on a research note from Goldman Sachs working through the possible impact of a Chinese slowdown.

If Chinese GDP growth was 8 per cent next year, rather than the 10 per cent forecast by Goldman economists, the majority of metals would fall by 30-38 per cent, analyst Peter Mallin-Jones said. This would have a severe impact on companies reliant on nickel and zinc, such as Xstrata, as these metals already trade close to the marginal cost of production, he said.

Xstrata lost 4.9 per cent to �0„535.38