- FTSE 100 down 0.5% to 6,242
- Gold flat at $1,061.42/oz
- £/$ – 1.4746
The FTSE 100 ended the year on a negative note on Thursday, falling 0.5% to 6,242.
Credit checker Experian and utility National Grid both led the index down with losses of 2%, and Sainsbury’s ended the day 1.9% lower. Telecoms giant Vodafone bucked the trend with a 1.5% gain, while retailer Sports Direct and miner Rio Tinto each added 0.7%.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.9% to 4,637, and the German Xetra Dax lost 1.1% to 10,743.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1% to 17,425, the S&P 500 lost 0.9% to 2,044, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.2% lower at 5,007.
Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 3.1% to 18,451, and the broader Topix index lost 2.4% to 1,510. And in China, the Shanghai Composite fell 6.9% to 3,296, and the CSI 300 slid 7.0% to 3,469.
Brent spot was trading at $37.56 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $37.36. Spot gold was trading at $1,071 an ounce, silver was at $13.96 and platinum was at $879.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4762 and against the euro at 1.3505. The dollar was trading at 0.9150 against the euro and 118.98 against the Japanese yen.
And in the news, Société Générale has put the odds of Britain voting to leave the European Union at 45%. The French investment bank said an ‘Out’ vote would affect growth and wipe 0.5% to 1% off annual GDP until 2026.