- FTSE 100 up 1.4% to 6,673
- Gold up 0.37% to $1,163.70
- £/$ – 1.5517
The FTSE 100 ended the week on a high note on Friday, climbing 1.4% to close at 6,673.
Financial stocks were the top performers. Standard Life was the day’s highest climber with a 4.2% rise, while St James’s Place added 3.8%, Schroders rose 3.5% and Aberdeen Asset Management was 3.4% higher.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 3.1% to 4,903, and the German Xetra Dax was 2.9% higher at 11,315.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each rose 1.2% to 17,760 and 2,076 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.5% higher at 4,997.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.6% to 20,089, and the broader Topix index rose 1.9% to 1,613. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 2.6% to 4,211, and the Shanghai Composite added 2.4% to 3,970.
Brent spot was trading at $57.71 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $51.79. Spot gold was trading at $1,154 an ounce, silver was at $15.40 and platinum was at $1,022.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5515 and against the euro at 1.3998. The dollar was trading at 0.9022 against the euro and 123.35 against the Japanese yen.
And today, Surrey-based chemicals firm Alent is set to be bought by US rival Platform Speciality Products in a deal worth £1.4bn. Alent makes speciality chemicals for the automotive and electronics industries.