Market round-up: Interest rate announcement couldn't save mining firms on FTSE 100

malaysia satellite — Staff at British satellite communications company Inmarsat work in front of a screen at their headquarters in London Reuters

The Bank of England's announcement that it will hold interest rates at 0.5% edged the FTSE 100 into positive territory before the stock exchange slipped on weak industrial output on 6 August.

The Office for National Statistics reported that industry fell 0.4% in June on a drop in oil and mining production. The UK's manufacturing sector, however, saw a rise in output of 0.2% in June, although this was not enough to raise the market's outlook.

Investors sold off securities in the mining sector, all but wiping out the slight gains made there recently. Miners Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American were all among the biggest fallers. The weak data also impacted BP, which saw -3.00% shaved from its stock.

"Rio Tinto fared slightly better than its peers after its first-half results were better than analysts had forecast with lower energy costs and positive currency movements partly offsetting plunging prices," said analysts AJ Bell in a statement.

The market closed out the day down -0.08% settling at 6,747.09p. Satellite communications firm Inmarsat gainsed +6.69%, with investors spurred by "improved second quarter revenues and the prospect of several major airline deals", said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. The firm played a key roll in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

"Inmarsat's third Global Xpress satellite is set to be launched by the end of this month which will enable it to introduce global GX commercial services by the end of this year. This will provide a major catalyst for a step-change in revenue and earnings growth in 2016."