• FTSE 100 up 0.9% to 6,532
• Gold down 1.73% to $1,367.50/oz
• £/$ – 1.5590
The FTSE 100 rose further yesterday after central banks in the UK, Europe and Japan kept interest rates on hold, and encouraging economic data emerged from the USA. The index closed up 0.9% at 6,532, a three-week high.
Housebuilder Persimmon was the day’s highest climber, adding 3.7% after a positive report by HSBC. Marks & Spencer gained 3.4% after a similar upgrade.
In Europe yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 26 points to 4,006, and the German Xetra Dax was 39 points higher at 8,234.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose seven points to 14,937, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to 1,655, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% higher at 3,658.
Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% to 13,860, and the broader Topix index lost 0.9% to 1,147. In China, the Shanghai Composite added 0.8% to 2,139, and the CSI 300 was 0.7% higher 2,357.
Brent spot was trading at $115.18 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $108.39. Spot gold was trading at $1,371 an ounce, silver was at $23.20 and platinum was at $1,482.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5593 and against the euro at 1.1883. The dollar was trading at 0.7620 against the euro and 99.64 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, house prices rose by 0.4% in August, down from 0.9% in July, according to the latest figures from the Halifax. In the three months to August, prices rose by 5.4% compared with the same period last year – the fastest annual rate in over three years.