Miners in a hole as analysts see little respite from falling commodity prices UBS cut Antofagasta's 2014 earnings per share by 8pc on downside risk to earnings, while it lowered Fresnillo's earnings-per-share guidance by 31pc based on the lower prices. The Mexico-based precious metals miner fell 16 to 744p. The miner malaise spread to the FTSE 250, with Hochschild down 12.2 to 125.1p, Ophir Energy dropping 10 to 323.9p, and African Barrick Gold, down 9.7 at 152.6, being the biggest fallers on the mid-cap index. Rio Tinto, UBS's top pick of the miners, fell 31 to £32 after revealing it will halve its capital spending to $8bn by 2015 to cut debt. The falls that accompany a slumping gold price are not exclusive to miners, as pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond has learnt the hard way. The company, which has been forced into smelting its own gold to stay afloat, hung a "For Sale" sign on the business on Monday while suffering a mass exodus of directors. The cash-strapped pawnbroker closed down a further 4, or 21pc, to 14.5p, a far cry from the £2-a-share price at which the company started the year. The FTSE 100 shed 62.90 points to 6532.48, despite upbeat Markit figures showing that UK construction activity accelerated at a six-year high last month. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said that builders could boost economic growth in the final quarter to match the 0.8pc recorded in the last quarter. The FTSE 250, a more accurate reflection of the British middle market, also dipped, down 181.61 points to 15153.14. UBS did manage to take its eyes off the miners for a bit of a flutter with gambling stocks and raised William Hill to "buy" from "neutral," while lifting its target price to 450p from 400p. It also started coverage of Playtech with a buy rating and a target price of 820p. The gambling sector also cashed in on Tuesday on Betfair's better-than-expected results. The online bookie beat forecasts to report a 16pc rise in half-year underlying profits, prompting analysts to nudge up their 2014 forecasts. Betfair rose by 50 or 4.9pc to £10.80. Staying in the leisure sector, Old Speckled Hen brewer Greene King closed 31, or 3.5pc, lower to 851p, despite a 5.7pc rise in first-half profits, which was in line with analysts" forecasts. Meanwhile, Liberum initiated coverage on 15 retail stocks and its 73-page report on the sector provoked mixed results. Ecommerce darling Asos sank 165 to £5.72 after the longevity of the retailer's success was questioned. Liberum wrote: "Our view is that Asos has a first-mover advantage, but we are not convinced that it has a sustainable long-term competitive advantage or the investment capability to 'guarantee" the kind of growth that the market is factoring in." The retail equity team, led by Sanjay Vidyarthi, said it had picked a range of quality companies with long-term growth potential, spiced with quality recovery plays, such as Halfords and Greggs, while it included Topps Tiles and Vertu as a bet on the broader macro-environment's recovery. Fashion retailer Ted Baker was the second-biggest riser on the FTSE 250, up 100, or 4.9pc, to £21.05, as Liberum said it believed "there is plenty of momentum in the business and that risks remain on the upside for what is one of the highest quality companies in our coverage." Clothes-based retailers stayed in vogue as Next shot up 115 to £5.51 to the top of the FTSE 100, boosted by Oriel Securities upgrading the high street bellwether from "hold" to "buy" and placing a target price of £6.20. The British Retail Consortium added to the cheer as figures showed clothing sales had picked up in the colder weather as shoppers marched the high street in search of coats and scarves. Banks wobbled on Nomura's 2014 bearish outlook on the sector as it expects tougher regulation and a harsher interpretation of standards to impede higher shareholder payouts. Nomura kept Barclays, which fell 4.05 to 266.2p, as its top pick among the UK banks as it said it expects its deleveraging plan to lead to higher capital ratios. Standard Chartered, which lost 7 to £14.3, was kept as a "buy," while HSBC, down 8.9 to 668.4p, was downgraded to neutral. The Japanese bank said: "HSBC remains a boring story compared with other high-beta names, but boring is good in the banking sector." Nomura upgraded Standard Chartered on the back of the bank being able to outperform as sentiment improves towards Asia. Turning to the small caps, Aim-quoted finance house Private & Commercial Finance closed up 1.25, or 14.7pc, to 9.75p, on the back of a 51pc increase in new business during the year.