Britain's top equity index slipped off three-week highs on Friday, with mining stocks among the worst performers as weak metals prices weighed on the sector. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down by 0.1 percent, or 8.29 points, at 6,769.37 points going into the close of trading. The London stock market is closed for a public holiday on Monday, according to Reuters. Gold and silver miner Fresnillo was the worst-performing FTSE 100 stock in percentage terms, falling 2 percent as the price of gold remained stuck near a two-month low. Traders pointed to a dovish tone in a speech on Friday by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as limiting the stock market's losses. Yellen said the Fed should move cautiously in determining when interest rates should rise. Nevertheless, equity traders remained on the backfoot, with tensions in Ukraine - where Kiev said Moscow sent a convoy of aid trucks into eastern Ukraine without its consent - also weighing on stock markets. The FTSE 100 hit a peak of 6,894.88 points in mid-May, its highest level since December 1999, but the market has since given up much of that ground due partly to worries over conflicts in Ukraine and also in Iraq. Others were a bit more positive on the FTSE's prospects, with the UK stock market buoyed by Britain's gradual economic recovery and a pick-up in corporate takeover activity. -- SPA 18:42 LOCAL TIME 15:42 GMT تغريد
