FTSE 100 falls as mining stocks slide

(Close): Mining shares dragged the FTSE 100 down, with Anglo American leading the fall after it said it would shut a coal mine in Australia.

Anglo American shares fell 8%. It said it was closing the Drayton mine after a state body recommended that an expansion plan should be blocked.

At the end of trading the FTSE 100 index was 0.3% lower at 6,375.15.

Other mining shares were also lower, following more disappointing economic data from China.

Chinese industrial profits fell 4.6% in October, the fifth month in a row they have fallen.

On the currency markets, the pound fell after figures confirmed that the UK economy grew by 0.5% in the third quarter. That was a slowdown from the rate of 0.7% in the previous quarter, with the trade deficit weighing on growth.

The pound fell more than half a cent against the dollar to $1.5036, and was down half a cent against the euro at €1.4183.