London stock market continues to fall by midday

¡¡LONDON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- London's leading shares were behind in Wednesday's lunchtime trade, though they had recovered somewhat from their negative opening.

By 12:50 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was down 18.84 points, or 0.46per cent, at 4,104.02.

Shares in bus and rail operator Stagecoach group were down 18.3percent after the company said its rail arm faced tough times and job cuts.

Other losers included Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, First Group and Drax.