UPDATE 1-Brexit delay a silver lining in cloudy FTSE 100 skies

Britain's blue-chip share index stayed in the red on Thursday as losses in miners on fears of a global economic slowdown overpowered gains for housebuilders and airlines after the UK secured a further Brexit delay.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent, with losses led by several stocks trading ex-dividend. The FTSE 250 added 0.2 percent by 0828 GMT. Miners slipped as a decline in copper prices on fears of a global economic slowdown more than offset progress in trade talks between the United States and China, the world's largest copper consumer.

Several blue-chip stocks traded ex-dividend and dragged the index further into the red. ITV, Standard Life Aberdeen , Aviva, Smurfit Kappa and Mondi fell by between 2.2 and 4.7 percent. Precious metals mining company Fresnillo shed 3 percent after its quarterly production fell.

The European Union granted Britain a six-month extension to leave the bloc, averting a disorderly exit on Friday and giving Prime Minister Theresa May more time to break the Brexit deadlock at home. "The problem for traders and investors is that the extension to Oct. 31st does not bring us any closer to a resolution. The cliff edge has simply been pushed back," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.

"We are in a period of peak uncertainty for UK politics and that won't help investors pile back into UK assets." Still, housebuilders, considered more sensitive to Brexit developments, were buoyed by the extension as well as data showing British house prices improved in March for the first time since July. Persimmon, Taylow Wimpey and Berkeley all eked out gains.

The delay to Britain's divorce from the EU also helped airline stocks outperform the main index. EasyJet and IAG gained about 3 percent each. London-listed shares of German tour operator TUI rose 2.9 percent, with a trader also citing a rating action by Exane.

Luxury brand Burberry added nearly 1 percent after French peer LVMH reported better-than-expected results. Severn Trent and United Utilities fell about 1 percent after Britain's water industry regulator agreed reductions in bills of between 5-15 percent with the utilities.

Rating downgrades hurt Marks & Spencer and its online food joint venture partner Ocado. M&S slipped 2.7 percent after a Credit Suisse downgrade and Ocado skidded 2.2 percent after HSBC lowered its rating. Drugmaker Indivior, which lost more than two thirds of its value in the previous session after a U.S. Justice Department indictment, recovered 7.3 percent on the mid-cap index. (Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru, editing by Larry King and Susan Fenton)

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