Dreary day sees FTSE drop

Vedanta Resources fell 125p to £17.60 while Kazakhmys dropped 62p, or 5.2%, to £11.31. Associated British Foods provided some respite, climbing 63 points, or 8.13%, to 838p, as did Taylor Wimpey, up 10.5p, or 6.37%, to 175.3. Scottish Newcastle, British Land and Whitbread also had strong days. In the US, the Dow Jones dropped 182.09 points, or 1.46%, to 12,284.07 at the halfway point on Thursday. McDonalds, up 0.44 points to 52.85, International Business Machines, up 0.67 points to 102.3, and Boeing all made positive starts. But Merck, American International and Alcoa are all strugg...