Markets: FTSE 100 slides further

  • FTSE 100 down 1.4% to 6,895
  • Gold up 0.79% to $1,204.83/oz
  • £/$ – 1.4849

The FTSE 100 slid further yesterday, falling 1.4% to 6,895.

Financial stocks were among the worst performers. London Stock Exchange was the day’s biggest faller, down 5.6%. Wealth manager Schroders lost 4.1%, peer St James’s Place fell 3.5% and Hargreaves Lansdown was 3.4% lower.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.3% to 5,006, and the German Xetra Dax lost 0.2% to 11,843.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each fell 0.2% to 17,678 and 2,056 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% lower at 4,863.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 19,285, and the broader Topix index fell 1% to 1,552. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,691, and the CSI 300 added 0.6% to 3,971.

Brent spot was trading at $58.16 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $50.48. Spot gold was trading at $1,199 an ounce, silver was at $16.98 and platinum was at $1,141.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4824 and against the euro at 1.3699. The dollar was trading at 0.9241 against the euro and 119.45 against the Japanese yen.

And today, the Co-operative Bank reported a loss of £264.2m in 2014 – compared with £632.8m. The bank closed 72 branches last year, and lost over 90 staff. It plans to shut a 57 more branches this year.



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