Business confidence drops in London

Business confidence in the UK fell back last month, with fewer firms expressing optimism about their future prospects, according to a new study Monday.A survey of over 300 companies by Lloyds Bank showed that those in the service sector were most optimistic, with two out of three expecting trading prospects to improve in the next year.Lloyds said its business barometer predicted "moderate" growth in the second half of this year.Trevor Williams, chief economist at Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets, said "The Office of National Statistics confirmed last week that the economy continued to grow in the second quarter, albeit weakly."The Lloyds Corporate Markets business barometer points to a very gradual pick-up in growth in the second half of the year, but the recovery remains fragile."Domestic demand conditions look set to remain challenging, but external demand and business-to-business activity are likely to fare better." Firms in Scotland, the South East of England and the East Midlands were most optimistic about trading prospects in the next year, while those in the South West and Wales were most pessimistic