HSBC Holdings falls on annual profit miss
Glencore falls after annual earnings drop
U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes awaited
FTSE 100 down 0.6, FTSE 250 flat

Feb 21 Reuters The UK39;s FTSE 100 fell on Wednesday, as disappointing earnings updates from HSBC Holdings and Glencore weighed on banking and mining stocks, while investors awaited the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve39;s last meeting for clues on its policy outlook.

The bluechip FTSE 100 index slid 0.6, as of 0854 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 index was flat at 19,111.67.

HSBC Holdings lost 6.6, set for its biggest oneday drop in more than a year, after the lender39;s annual profit missed market estimates, hit by a hefty 3 billion charge from its stake in a Chinese bank.

Backing out a lot of the mess, it looks like HSBC39;s performance was a little worse than expected with higher operating costs more than offsetting slightly better impairments, noted Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Costs are forecast to rise 5 and loan loss levels are expected to tick higher. Overall, that paints a mixed underlying picture that looks to be a little worse than the current consensus has builtin.

Glencore dropped 5.8 as the miner said lower commodity prices had halved its earnings last year, and slashed its payout to investors, as the company saves to fund the acquisition of a 77 stake in Teck Resources39; metallurgical coal business.

Financials and base metal miners dropped 3.7 and…