FTSE battles with drugs

GlaxoSmithKline declined 1.88% to £13.60 and AstraZeneca fell 2.11% to £30.10 on fears the US Congress will cut the price of drugs following Democrats triumph in the recent mid-term elections. The miners presented a mixed picture, as BHP Billiton fell 2.59% to £10.16 and Xstrata dropped 2.51% to £22.95, while Lonmin jumped 3.04% to £31.83 on the back of bid rumours. Anglo American rose 1.22% to £24.96 after the Oppenheimer family sold a third of its stake in the world's second-biggest miner to China Vision Resources. The transaction is worth around £419m. In the US, the Dow Jones indu...