Mining and oil stocks took a hit on Thursday as a hawkish statement by the Federal Reserve and better-than-expected US growth bolstered the dollar and dampened commodity prices.Gold dropped to its lowest in three weeks, while silver, platinum and crude prices all declined, as the dollar rose to a three-and-a-half-week high.The Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday voted to end its quantitative easing (QE) programme and pledged to keep interest rates low for a "considerable time".However, policymakers dropped their previous language describing the slack in the labour market as "significant" as they painted a more upbeat outlook for the economy, raising the possibility that rates could rise sooner than the markets currently expect.The dollar's strength was bolstered partly by the news that the annualised rate of US gross domestic product growth eased to 3.5% in the third quarter, down from 4.6% in the second but well ahead of the 3.1% expansion expected by analysts.The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.3% at 86.38, its highest since early October.The end of QE means "the 'cheap' dollars that had flooded the market are now being reduced and hence the dollar has appreciated against most major currencies", explained trader Toby Goar from Spreadex.Dollar-denominated commodities such as gold and oil suffered as a result, given that their attraction lessened as an investment to holders of other currencies. Gold fell to a low of $1,201.10 on Thursday, its lowest since 6 October, while Brent crude fell 1% to $86.26 a barrel (bbl).Investec analysts said they were beginning to see signs of gold returning to its historic "inverse correlation" with the US dollar. "This correlation has been almost entirely absent during the bull run in gold over the last decade but is finally showing signs of returning as the US economy recovers," they said.In other news, a Reuters poll of economists on Thursday showed that Brent crude was likely to remain below the $100/bbl mark for the next two years, averaging just $93.70 and $96 in 2015 and 2016 respectively.Randgold Resources and precious metals peer Fresnillo were among the worst performing miners in London in afternoon trade, dropping around 5% each.Other diversified producers such as Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were also registering steep losses.Oil and gas counterparts Tullow, BP, Afren and Premier Oil were also out of favour along with Royal Dutch Shell after an underwhelming third-quarter statement from the oil major.Shares in Shell slipped 0.7% as investors shrugged off a bigger-than-expected 31% jump in third-quarter earnings to $5.8bn, with the market also reacting to the news that chairman Jorma Ollila will step down after nine years.Top performing sectors so far todayHealth Care Equipment & Services 5,912.07 +1.89%Forestry & Paper 10,997.56 +0.79%Real Estate Investment & Services 2,531.11 +0.56%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,036.64 +0.52%Chemicals 9,715.35 +0.51%Bottom performing sectors so far todayFixed Line Telecommunications 4,189.87 -2.64%Mining 14,951.57 -2.13%Industrial Metals & Mining 1,348.94 -1.87%Oil & Gas Producers 7,628.56 -0.90%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 20,682.14 -0.75%
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