Qatar ponders Glencore deal

Qatar Holding yesterday officially said it has not yet made up its mind on whether to accept Glencore's $36bn (£23bn) takeover bid for the mining giant Xstrata.

The sovereign wealth fund, which is Xstrata's second-largest backer, and had planned to block Glencore's original lower offer, said it had been asked to clarify its position by the Takeover Panel.

It added that it would decide "after giving careful consideration [...] to the revised proposal". Xstrata shares fell 15p to 1,011.5p.