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July 23 (Reuters) -London's FTSE 100 inched downon Tuesday as copper miners weighed heavily on the market, tracking lowercopper prices, while positive updates from companies helped contain declines.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 0.3%, after logging its best session in more thana week on Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC was up 0.1% as of 0719 GMT.

Industrial metal miners .FTNMX551020 led declines with a 1.7% loss. Heavyweights like Rio Tinto RIO.L and Glencore GLEN.L slipped over 1% each as copper prices were pressured by growing concerns over prolonged weakness in Chinese demand after the country's latest policy announcements disappointed investors.MET/L

The sector hit its lowest level since early April.

Automobile and parts stocks .FTNMX401010 also fell 1.6%, with Dowlais Group DWL.L, TI Fluid Systems TIFS.L and Aston Martin AML.L falling over 1% each, after German automaker Porsche AG P911_p.DE cut its sales and profitability outlook.

Energy .FTNMX601010 and precious metal miners .FTNMX551030 also slipped 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.

Investor focus is on Wall Street giants like Alphabet GOOGL.O and Tesla TSLA.O that will report quarterly earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday.

U.S. gross domestic product numbers and inflation data, due later this week, could shed more light on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.

Politics continued to make headlines in the U.S. after Vice President Kamala Harris secured support from delegates needed to become the Democrat nominee after President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid.

Meanwhile in London, SThree Plc STEMS.L jumped 3.5% after announcing its half-yearly results.

Compass CPG.L gained 3.2% after the catering group raised its 2024 profit and revenue forecasts for the second time this year despite easing prices.

Beazley BEZG.L rose 2.2% after the insurer said it had no plans to alter its guidance in the wake of Friday's global IT glitch.

Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema

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