The U.K. benchmark stock index dropped on Friday, as mining firms moved lower along with metals prices and the broader market remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week. The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.25% dropped 0.3% to 6,572.10, trimming its weekly gain to 0.4%. Miners posted some of the biggest losses in the index, driven lower by weaker metals prices. Shares of Anglo American PLC UK:AAL -3.67% dropped 3.4%, Vedanta Resources PLC UK:VED -2.96% lost 2.8% and heavyweight Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO -2.26% RIO -1.55% AU:RIO -1.75% fell 2.1%. Shares of Polymetal International PLC UK:POLY -3.89% fell 4.4% after Credit Suisse cut the miner to underperform from neutral. Credit Suisse also downgraded utility firm Pennon Group PLC UK:PNN -4.06% to underperform from neutral. "We are increasingly concerned that pricing pressure could materialize on Viridor's energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities," the analysts said. Banks were also on the decline and added pressure on the London benchmark. Barclays PLC UK:BARC -1.19% BCS -0.62% lost 1%, Standard Chartered PLC UK:STAN -0.86% dropped 0.6% and sector heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC UK:HSBA -0.63% HBC -0.02% HK:5 +0.29% fell 0.4%. More broadly, investors in London were hesitant of placing any big positions ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting next week. Analysts speculate that the central bank could start reducing its $85-billion-a-month asset purchases after recent data have pointed to an improvement in the economy. Outside the main index in London, shares of Imagination Technologies Group PLC UK:IMG +6.77% jumped 7.3% after the tech firm "significantly" expanded its strategic partnership with MediaTek. Source: MarketWatch
