Citi picks champions as blue-chips fall Indeed, the 6,400 level, breached by the FTSE 100 during intra-day trading on Wednesday, appeared very far away today. Traders took fright at the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, released after London closed on Wednesday, which showed the central bank could slow or halt its asset purchases before employment picks up. Disappointing economic data from the eurozone added to the malaise. All of that meant London's blue-chips tumbled 103.83 points to 6,291.54, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 185.23 to 13,554.71. There were similar falls in European stock markets, and Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average also opened lower. Miners, sensitive to the market's outlook for the global economy, were hit. Evraz fell 14 to 266.7p, Vedanta Resources declined 51p to £12.06 and Ferrexpo ended 25.6 worse off at 251.4p on the mid-cap index. There was some interest in digger Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, which lost as much as 7.5pc early in the session before recovering somewhat to finish 10.4 lower at 367p. One dealer said he heard a rehash of "perennial" bid talk in the shares. Adding to the general pressure on the miners were worries that calls for limits on property purchases in China, the world's biggest consumer of industrial metals, could hurt demand for commodities. Only seven FTSE 100 companies managed to finish the day higher. BAE Systems topped the main board with a gain of 13.7 to 345.9p. The defence group, which reported full-year results, said it would undertake a share buy-back worth as much as £1bn and increased its dividend. Drinks can maker Rexam, which led the FTSE 100 higher a day earlier on the release of its own numbers for 2012, continued to rise and put on 3½ to 505½p. Analysts at Citi, who rate the shares a "buy," decided to boost their price target to 570p from 512p. Insurer Aviva also edged up 1.9 to 355.9p. The shares were hurt on Wednesday by news that peer RSA Insurance was cutting its final dividend by 33pc, with some analysts recently speculating that Aviva would do the same when it posts full-year earnings on March 7. Scribblers at Exane BNP Paribas, however, raised their rating on the company to "outperform" from "neutral," arguing that Aviva would be able to maintain its payout. Analysts at Nomura lifted their recommendation on RSA to "neutral" from "reduce," noting that the shares looked "fairly valued" and adding that they "have a high regard for the management team, and look to see what further operational improvements can be made in the group." After tumbling 14.2pc yesterday, RSA shares stabilised and rose 1 to 118p. Imperial Tobacco, down 35p at £23.62 and the subject of bid rumours in the past, was a focus for a number of analysts ahead of its investor day on Tuesday. Scribblers at Exane said a takeover was need to "justify outperformance" in the shares. "The shares may be relatively cheap, but as Imperial runs out of alternatives, we see a take-out as the main avenue for outperformance," they said. Japan Tobacco is the pivotal player in such a scenario, but we remain unconvinced that a bid is imminent. Analysts at Oriel Securities saw Imperial as a "safe harbour." Nevertheless, they said an update on maintaining margins, its M&A strategy and cost-control programme, as well as potential measures to fight the illegal trade in cigarettes, would be needed for Imperial's share price to benefit from the investor day. Despite the gloom, there were strong risers on the FTSE 250. Chip maker CSR was the best performer, with a gain of 47.3 - 12.3pc - to 432.7p. The group posted fourth-quarter revenues that surpassed consensus among analysts and unveiled a $50m buy-back. One trader also suggested there was a short squeeze in the stock, accounting for the sharp move higher. Retailer Sports Direct International was in demand and rose 24 to 440p in the wake of an encouraging update for its fiscal third quarter, which included the Christmas period. Suffering a heavy fall was Czech coal group New World Resources, after swinging to a €58.8m (£50.8m) loss in the fourth quarter, which led management to abandon the dividend. Traders pushed the shares down 20.4 - 6.9pc - to 275.6p.