By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch)--The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index seesawed around
the flat line on Thursday, with optimism over a dovish European
Central Bank offset by declines for miners and AstraZeneca.
The FTSE 100 index was flat around 6,539.50, after trading as
high as 6,580.21 earlier in the afternoon.
The brief rally came after ECB President Mario Draghi hinted the
Governing Council is moving a step closer to full-blown
quantitative easing if current measures aren't enough to beef up
the sluggish eurozone economy.
The Bank of England offered no surprises, keeping its key
lending rate at record low of 0.5% and the size of its bond
portfolio unchanged at 375 billion pounds ($599 billion).
Adding pressure in London, shares of AstraZenaca PLC dropped
0.8%, after the drug maker reported a sharp decline in
third-quarter profit.
Miners were also falling as iron-ore prices sank to a near 5 1/2
year low. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) dropped 1.1%, Anglo
American PLC fell 0.5% and Antofagasta PLC lost 0.6%.
RSA Insurance Group PLC lost 3.7% after the company posted a
decline in net written premiums.
On a more upbeat note, shares of Randgold Resources Ltd. jumped
7.7% after the gold producer reported a rise in third-quarter
profit, as higher output offset lower gold prices.
In U.K. data news, the Office for National Statistics said
production rose 1.5% in September, year-over-year, a tad lower than
consensus forecasts, according to FactSet.
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