London stocks slide as BoE sees slower recovery; Glencore slumps

London-listed shares dove on Thursday as the Bank of England forecast a slower-than-expected rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, while Glencore tumbled after scrapping its dividend to pay down debt. In its policy decision, the central bank made no changes to its key interest rate or its bond-buying programme.

London-listed shares dove on Thursday as the Bank of England forecast a slower-than-expected rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, while Glencore tumbled after scrapping its dividend to pay down debt. The miner fell 4.6% as it also booked a $3.2 billion impairment charge, driving the FTSE 100 down 1.2%.

ITV, Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, was also among the biggest decliners on the FTSE 100 after it posted a 50% drop in first-half adjusted earnings. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.7%, with industrial, real estate and financial stocks among the biggest drags.

The Bank of England said on Thursday the British economy would not recover its end-2019 size until the end of next year, later than its earlier estimate of a recovery by the second half of 2021. In its policy decision, the central bank made no changes to its key interest rate or its bond-buying programme.