- FTSE 100 up 0.5% to 5,960
- Gold up 0.65% to 1,093.65/oz
- £/$ – 1.4407
The FTSE 100 added to Tuesday’s gains yesterday, adding a further 0.5% to close at 5,960.
BP was the day’s highest climber up 4%. Pharmaceuticals company Shire added 3.8%, and engineer Babcock International rose 3.5%.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.3% to 4,391, and the German Xetra Dax slipped 0.2% to 9,960.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.2% to 16,151, the S&P 500 lost 2.5% to 1,890, and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.4% lower at 4,526.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 2.7% to 17,240, and the broader Topix index was 2.5% lower at 1,406. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 2.1% to 3,221, and the Shanghai Composite added 2% to 3,147.
Brent spot was trading at $30.20 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $30.66. Spot gold was trading at $1,089 an ounce, silver was at $14.07 and platinum was at $847.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4413 and against the euro at 1.3207. The dollar was trading at 0.9163 against the euro and 117.70 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, a fall in sales at Argos hit Home Retail Group’s results. Like-for-like sales at Argos fell by 2.2% in the 18 weeks to 2 January, while Homebase registered a rise of 5%.