Economics / Markets

Mining stocks led a drop in the FTSE 100 today as falling commodity prices weighed on shares.

Mark Carney yesterday declared the British economy is ‘picking up' but warned that the recovery may prove to be another ‘false dawn'.

Analysts at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch have tipped the FTSE 100 to rise to 7,400 next year, citing the strengthening economy and an accommodating central bank as reasons why stocks can reach such highs.

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Confidence among investors that the Bank of England (BoE) will hold rates at record lows for as long as it has implied appears to be falling after a key economic indicator suggested the UK's economic recovery is gathering pace.

Sterling has risen to a seven-month high against the dollar after the UK's unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped from 7.8% to 7.7%.

A senior European Central Bank(ECB) policymaker has issued a fresh warning that the impact of the US Federal Reserve reducing its massive stimulus programme might exceed that of 1994.

The UK unemployment rate fell 0.1% in the three months to July to 7.7%, according to the Office for National Statistics.