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UK stocks fell in early trading on Monday following the release of disappointing Chinese economic data and mounting geopolitical concerns sparked by the Taliban's swift resurgence in Afghanistan.
At 0815, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 42.97 points, or 0.6%, at 7,175.74 on a particularly quite Monday for local company updates.
Asian stocks had fallen after China released disappointing retail sales and industrial production data amid a surge in Delta coronavirus cases there and elsewhere in the world.
Mining titan BHP shed 0.4% to £23.14, having confirmed that it was in talks to sell its petroleum business to Australia's Woodside.
Speculation that BHP could sell its oil and gas assets to concentrate more fully on mineral commodities had been brewing for weeks.
Specialist publisher Future rallied 4.0% to £38.34 on news that it had acquired consumer media subscription outfit Dennis for about £300 million.
Titles acquired in the deal included Kiplinger, MoneyWeek, Science & Nature and IT Pro.
Real estate investor LondonMetric Property rose 2.0% to 264.2p as it agreed to sell a distribution warehouse in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, to EQT Exeter for £102.0 million.
LondonMetric had acquired the property in 2013 for £60.5 million.
Podcasting group Audioboom fell 2.8% to 860p after it said it had given All Active Asset Capital more time to improve its takeover offer for the company.
All Active in July made a cash-and-shares bid worth £188.3 million, which Audioboom rejected as too low.
Intellectual property investor Tekcapital added 1.1% to 24.52p after it posted a large rise in first-half profit, as the underlying value of its portfolio assets strengthened.
Tekcapital's pre-tax profit for the six months through May jumped to $13.0 million, up from $1.9 million year-on-year. Its net asset value per share climbed to 39c, up from 35c.
Antenna group MTI Wireless Edge fell 1.8% to 75.15p, even as it posted a rise in first-half profit after contract wins boosted sales.
MTI's pre-tax profit for the six months through June increased to $2.0 million, up from $1.8 million year-on-year, as revenue climbed 9% to $21.3 million.
Building materials group Sigma Roc advanced 3.1% to 103.1p on receiving approval from Polish antitrust regulators for its planned €470 million acquisition of Rettig subsidiary Nordkalk.
Sigma Roc had received shareholder approval for the deal at a general meeting on 2 August and could now proceed to completion.
Mining company Premier African Minerals firmed 3.4% to 0.23p, having upped the estimated development cost for its Zulu lithium project in Zimbabwe to $69.3 million, but also hiked its expected value and return rates.
Premier published new scoping study results that updated an original study conducted in 2017, from which the previous capital cost estimate was $64.0 million.
Diamond producer BlueRock Diamonds climbed 6.2% to 43p after it discovered a 58.6 carat stone, to be sold in an August tender.