| LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares posted mild losses in early trading on Friday, with miners giving back some recent gains as Rio Tinto (UK:RIO 2,335, 0.00, 0.00%) declined 2.4% and Lonmin (UK:LMI 1,440, 0.00, 0.00%) shares fell 4%. On the plus side, shares of soccer club owner Birmingham City (UK:BMC 91.00, 0.00, 0.00%) shot up 41.1% after it received s takeover offer from Hong-Kong listed Grandtop. The U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.4% to 4,738.39, the German DAX 30 index lost 0.4% to 5,291.81 and the French CAC-40 index lost 0.4% to 3,492.02. |