- FTSE 100 up 0.8% to 6,555
- Gold up 0.14% to $1,095.56
- £/$ – 1.5559
The FTSE 100 halted its slide and bounced back yesterday, climbing 0.8% to close at 6,555.
RSA Insurance took the top spot, adding 18.4% after Zurich Insurance said it may make a bid to buy it. And Hikma Pharmaceuticals added 11.5% after announcing $2.25bn worth of acquisitions.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 1% to 4,977, and the German Xetra Dax was 1.1% higher at 11,173.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 17,630, the S&P 500 gained 1.2% to 2,093, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1% higher at 5,089.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.1% to 20,302, and the broader Topix index rose 0.3% to 1,633. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 3.1% to 3,930, and the Shanghai Composite added 3.4% to 3,789.
Brent spot was trading at $52.87 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $47.59. Spot gold was trading at $1,097 an ounce, silver was at $14.64 and platinum was at $985.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5597 and against the euro at 1.4129. The dollar was trading at 0.9058 against the euro and 123.71 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, broadcaster Sky reported a big rise in profits for the year. Operating profits rose by 18% to £1.4bn, with revenue up 5% to £11.3bn.