FT.com - UK Equities...FTSE falls as mining losses outweigh retail gains...UK stocks lost ground on Thursday as investors shrugged off pleasing earnings reports from the retail sector and instead sold off mining stocks...Yule Catto to reinstate dividend...Shareholders in the specialist chemical company will enjoy a pay-out after a year in which it slashed debt and improved operating profits in spite of a fall in sales...Harbinger bid hopes fade...A revival of takeover speculation helped the FTSE 100 hit an 18-month high, but Inmarsat was left behind...BP strikes $7bn Brazil oil deal...The energy group is set to make its first move into the deep waters off the South American country with a $7bn deal to buy oil and gas assets put up for sale by Devon Energy of the US...Tanfield to sell electric vehicle operation...Shares in the Aim-quoted company rose 46% after Smith Electric Vehicles US Corp, its American joint venture, offered to buy its UK business for £37m in cash ...US suspended BAE Systems' licences...Washington is likely to allow the US subsidiary of the UK defence company to obtain export licences as before, following the group's $400m plea agreement over bribery allegations...Tesco appoints new clothing chief...UK's biggest retailer has appointed Richard Jones as the new head of clothing, replacing Terry Green, as the group looks to revive its £1bn clothing business...Allen takes over helm at EMI Music...The former chief executive of ITV is to take over as executive chairman as the music group, owned by private equity house Terra Firma, seeks to raise £120m in new funds...Airlines offer concessions to secure alliance...The planned global alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia moves closer to securing regulatory approval as European officials begin testing the concessions offered by the airlines...Imperial Tobacco hit by earnings worry...London equity markets erased early gains on Tuesday as weaker-than-expected results held the mining sector at bay, while banks also fell back as market sentiment soured...Barclays eyes large US bank deal...The UK banking group is looking at buying a large US retail bank as it tries to rebalance its business away from a booming investment banking franchise...Car repairs drive Lookers into black...The motor dealership moves to a profit on the back of a good performance from its parts and servicing division as consumers opted to refurbish old cars rather than buying new...Gartmore cautious in spite of inflow of funds...The asset management group offers a cautious outlook for the rest of 2010 despite a £273m net inflow of funds in the first two months of the year as volatility returned to the market...Wide trade gap hits recovery hopes...The UK's trade deficit with the rest of the world reached its widest since August 2008 in January as exports dropped sharply, hitting hopes that the weak pound can deliver an export-driven recovery...Mears shrugs off election concerns...Repair and maintenance group rebuffs concerns over post-election spending cuts and says it is 'very excited' about this year ...