With investors fleeing from risk on Tuesday as prolonged Greek talks took the spotlight, miners were widely sold off, with merger pals Xstrata and Glencore International being the worst performers on the FTSE 100 in late afternoon trade. Markets await this evening's meeting between the Greek Prime Minister and the leaders of the country's main political parties to put an end to the government's ongoing arguments over austerity measures.

In what was hoped to be a well-received announcement that Xstrata and Glencore would tie the knot, the opening salvos have been fired in the battle for value over the proposed $90bn merger between the two commodity giants.

On one side are the shareholders of Glencore and the managements of both companies (who hold large stakes in their firms). The other faction is made up of unhappy institutional shareholders in Xstrata who believe they are being sold a pup. Xstrata's shares were down 5% before the close to lead the Footsie's fallers, while Glencore wasn't far behind, falling 3.8%.

The all-share deal values Xstrata at £39.1bn or a premium of 28% over its average price in the three months prior to the bid. But Xstrata shareholders - such as Standard Life and Schroders - argue that the figure of 1,290p per share is only a 15% premium over the share price the day before the offer was made. It's thought they are aiming for 20% or around 1,336p per share, valuing Xstrata at around £39.54bn.

Adding to the downward pressure today were reports the Chinese Ministry of Industry is anticipating a slowdown in the country's industrial production, as the world economy cools and the European crisis worsens.

Mining peers Kazakhmys, ENRC, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto were firmly out of favour, while Randgold Resources was on the fall with a downgrade from buy to hold by Fox-Davies weighing on the stock.

Tobacco stocks were in demand today as investors shifted their weight away from risk and into defensive stocks. Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco were both making decent gains on the FTSE 100.

BC

Top performing sectors so far today
Food Producers & Processors 5,460.04 +1.10%
Tobacco 35,651.79 +1.01%
Insurance (non-life) 1,431.72 +0.80%
Banks 3,964.84 +0.76%
Construction & Materials 3,588.74 +0.74%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 3,155.59 -2.46%
Mining 23,264.46 -2.09%
Industrial Metals & Mining 5,044.12 -2.03%
Automobiles & Parts 5,160.11 -1.74%
Personal Goods 22,096.76 -1.62%

Related share prices
British American Tobacco (BATS) share price
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) share price
Rio Tinto (RIO) share price
Antofagasta (ANTO) share price
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) share price
Xstrata (XTA) share price
Kazakhmys (KAZ) share price
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) share price
Glencore International (GLEN) share price