On Friday the FTSE 100 closed 0.4% higher at 5,296, a 14-month closing high. The index was up 2.9% over the week and 53% higher that the March lows. Banking heavyweight HSBC, up 1.2% on the day and 8.5% over the week, added the most points to the index. Other bank stocks were mixed, with RBS climbing 0.6% but Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered all lower. Energy stocks were strong, with BG Group, Cairn Energy, Tullow Oil and BP all up by between 0.5% and 2.1%. Miners were also in demand, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all adding around 1%.
The latest stock market news and charts.
Europe
The Paris CAC fell 2 points to 3,806 but the German Xetra Dax rose 23 points to close at 5,687.
USA
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%, 73 points, to 10,270, while the S&P 500 put on 0.6% to 1,093. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.9% to 2,168.
Asia
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index nudged up 0.2% to close at 9,791, while the broader Topix index lost 0.7% to close at 860. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 2.7% to 3,275 and the CSI 300 added 3% to 3,626.
Commodities
Brent spot was trading at $76.58 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $77.45. Spot gold was trading at $1,131 an ounce, silver was at $17.77 and platinum was at $1,418.
Currencies
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.668 and against the euro at 1.114. The dollar was trading at 0.667 against the euro and 89.50 against the Japanese yen.
UK news
This morning, stock markets in Europe opened firmer, with the FTSE 100 up more than 1% at 5,359. But Rightmove reported that UK home sellers had cut their asking prices in November – by 1.6% – for the first time in three months as pre-Christmas property demand dwindled. That added up to a 6.6% fall from the May 2008 peak.