Markets: FTSE 100 virtually unchanged

  • FTSE 100 down two points to 6,686
  • Gold up 0.09% to $1,087.77
  • £/$ – 1.5564

The FTSE 100 saw little change yesterday. The index closed down just two points at 6,686.

Pharmaceuticals group Shire was the day’s biggest faller, sliding 5.9% after making a hostile takeover bid for US company Baxalta. Greek drinks bottler Coca Cola HBC fell 5.7%, and chipmaker ARM Holdings lost 4.5%.

In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.2% to 5,112, and the German Xetra Dax was 0.1% higher at 11,456.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 17,550, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 2,093, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower at 5,105.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to 20,614, and the broader Topix index was up 0.4% at 1,665. And in China, the CSI 300 slid 2.1% to 3,866, and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.7% to 3,694.

Brent spot was trading at $50.43 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $46.20. Spot gold was trading at $1,087 an ounce, silver was at $14.52 and platinum was at $950.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5572 and against the euro at 1.4339. The dollar was trading at 0.9208 against the euro and 124.39 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Legal & General reported a forecast-beating set of results. Operating profit rose by 18% in the first half of the year, to £750m. Assets under management rose by 12% to £715bn.


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