The FTSE 100 saw a late sell off yesterday, sliding 0.8% to close at 6,927.58.
International Consolidated Airlines was the biggest faller, down 3.7%. Imperial Tobacco lost 3.4%, Whitbread fell 3.3% and HSBC was 3.2% lower.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 slid 2.1% to 4,974, and the German Xetra Dax lost 2.5% to 11,327.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 17,928, the S&P 500 lost 1.2% to 2,089, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.6% lower at 4,939.
Japan’s markets remained closed for a public holiday. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid 1.6% to 4,229, and the CSI 300 lost 1% to 4,553.
Brent spot was trading at $68.26 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $61.37. Spot gold was trading at $1,190 an ounce, silver was at $16.38, and platinum was at $1,141.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5184 and against the euro at 1.3497. The dollar was trading at 0.8889 against the euro and 119.73 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, Sainsbury’s reported its first loss for ten years today. The company made a pre-tax loss of £72m for the year to the end of March after being hit with one-off costs of £628m, including a reduction in the value of its property portfolio.