- FTSE 100 down 1.4% to 6,571
- Gold up 1.4% to $1,124.46
- £/$ – 1.5613
The FTSE 100 continued to fall after China’s devaluation of its currency. The index lost a further 1.4% to close at 6,664.
Commodities giant Glencore was the day’s worst performer, sliding 3.2%. But precious metals miners tracked the price of gold up – Randgold added 5.1%, while Fresnillo rose 1%.
In Europe’s markets on Friday, the Paris CAC 40 slid 3.4% to 4,925, and the German Xetra Dax was 3.3% lower at 10,924.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged at 17,402, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 2,086, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2% to 5,036.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1% to 20,595, and the broader Topix index gained 0.1% to 1,667. And in China, the CSI 300 added 1.5% to 4,075, and the Shanghai Composite rose 1.8% to 3,954.
Brent spot was trading at $50.09 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $43.48. Spot gold was trading at $1,118 an ounce, silver was at $15.38and platinum was at $991.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5623 and against the euro at 1.4059. The dollar was trading at 0.8999 against the euro and 124.55 against the Japanese yen.
And today, TUI Travel reported lower profits in the wake of the shootings in Tunisia. The company, which owns Thomson and First choice, said profits fell by €10m (£7m) in the third quarter to €49.4m. Annual earnings would be “at the upper end” of forecasts, it said.