- FTSE 100 up 0.1% to 6,933.74
- Gold down 0.09% to $1,192.22/oz
- £/$ – 1.5246
The FTSE 100 edged higher yesterday, adding 0.1% to close at 6,933.74.
Software company Sage was the day’s top performer, up 8%. Wealth manager St James’s Place gained 1.8%, and Imperial Tobacco was 1.8% higher.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.1% to 4,981, and the German Xetra Dax added 0.2% to 11,350.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each fell 0.5% to 17,841 and 2,080 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% lower at 4,919.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.2% to 19,291, and the broader Topix index slipped 0.7% to 1,574. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid 2.8% to 4,112, and the CSI 300 lost 1.8% to 4,470.
Brent spot was trading at $68.30 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $61.02. Spot gold was trading at $1,183 an ounce, silver was at $16.23, and platinum was at $1,133.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5205 and against the euro at 1.3381. The dollar was trading at 0.8800 against the euro and 119.40 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, Morrisons reported a fall in sales in the last quarter. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel fell by 2.9% in the 13 weeks to 3 May. Shares were down by 6.7% in early trading today.