LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Mining firms weighed on the broader London market on Thursday, as the sector pulled back from early gains to trade lower.

Miners under pressure in midday action in London included Anglo American , down 1.2%, Rio Tinto , down 1.6%, and Xstrata , down 3.2%.

Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata said Thursday that it will increase capital expenditure to $6.8 billion, up from previous guidance of $3.6 billion.

Xstrata said that it has a substantial pipeline of more that $40 billion of organic growth projects. That includes over $8 billion of projects currently in construction and a further $8 billion due for approval within the next twelve months.

It also said that it expects to continue with its growth strategy, in part through making major acquisitions.

Xstrata has made a string of acquisitions since 2001 and most recently tried to buy Anglo American but was rebuffed.

The earlier gains in the sector followed another record for gold futures as the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar continued to attract investors into the precious-metals market. Read more on gold.

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Overall, the U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.1% to 5,324.03.

Other European shares were mildly higher and U.S. stock futures were pointing to gains on Wall Street.

Late Wednesday, Bank of America Corp. said that it will repay $45 billion it got from the government after raising $18.8 billion selling new common securities, setting the giant lender on course to wean itself from taxpayer support.

Amid that sign that banking-sector health is improving, European lenders advanced, with Barclays shares up 3.6%, Lloyds Banking Group shares up 3.8% and Royal Bank of Scotland shares up 2.6%.

Elsewhere, airline British Airways shares rose 3%. The airline reports traffic figures later Thursday.

London Markets: Mining-sector decline weighs on British shares