Nigel Farage has reportedly apologised in person to a Thai woman who was called a “ting tong” by a Ukip MEP.

Copper prices tumbled below $6,000 a tonne today, sending shares in the mining sector down as much as 5%.

Shoppers have long viewed low-denomination coins as little more than a nuisance, but soaring copper prices made rummaging around the backs of sofas a little more worthwhile today.

London oil traders famed for stripy blazers and frenzied hand signals took their final bow today as the high-tech era claimed another victim in the City.

The world’s second-biggest aluminium maker Alcan has reported its biggest quarterly profit in at least 14 years on higher prices, sales and currency gains.