LONDON MARKETS: Miners Hammer FTSE 100 As Metals Prices Slide

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped for the first time in three days on Thursday, with miners leading the charge lower, as metal prices slumped.

The benchmark traded 0.9% lower at 6,398.92, after jumping 0.8% on Wednesday. The rest of Europe was also lower, as traders digested news that the U.S. Federal Reserve has ended its long-running stimulus plan, known also as quantitative-easing, or QE.

Mining firms weakened, with precious-metals miners posting the biggest losses as gold prices(GCZ4) slumped 1.7%. Shares of Randgold Resources Ltd. lost 3.4%, and Fresnillo PLC dropped 3.2%. Among larger miners, Anglo American PLC gave up 2.9%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) slipped 1.6%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) dropped 1.5%.

Meanwhile, shares of bank Barclays PLC (BCS) opened in positive territory, but erased gains later in the morning to trade 0.5% lower. The bank reported third-quarter adjusted pretax profit that beat expectations, but booked a 500 million pound ($800 million) legal provision related to investigations into the alleged manipulation of the foreign-exchange market.

Other banks also fell. Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) are down 0.8%, and Lloyds Banking Group PLC's (LYG) stock is off 0.7%.

On a more upbeat note, shares of St. James's Place PLC climbed 3.1% after the wealth manager said funds under management climbed in the third quarter.

Outside the main index in London, Balfour Beatty PLC fell 2.9% after Jefferies cut the construction company to underperform from hold.

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