- FTSE 100 up 0.3% to 6,950
- Gold down 0.67% to $1,185.05
- £/$ – 1.5341
The FTSE 100 halted its decline yesterday, rising 0.3% to close at 6,950.
Builders’ merchant CRH was the day’s top performer, up 3.4%, while housebuilder Taylor Wimpey added 1.7%. Morrisons celebrated a return to profit with a 3.3% rise, and Sainsbury’s gained 1.9%.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 5,034, and the German Xetra Dax added 0.8% to 11,419.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 18,076, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 2,114, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% higher at 5,099.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.1% to 20,488, and the broader Topix index rose 0.2% to 1,673. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.8% to 4,974, and the CSI 300 gained 0.7% to 5,181.
Brent spot was trading at $63.44 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $29.28. Spot gold was trading at $1,190 an ounce, silver was at $16.66, and platinum was at $1,110.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5327 and against the euro at 1.3618. The dollar was trading at 0.8885 against the euro and 124.34 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, house prices fell by 0.1% in May, according to the latest statistics from the Halifax, with the yearly rise standing at 8.6%. The average price of a home now stands at £196,067.