- FTSE 100 up 2.6% to 6,083
- Gold up 0.25% to $1,118.17/oz
- £/$ – 1.4244
The FTSE 100 saw a big rise on Friday, climbing 2.6% to close at 6,083.
Financial stocks were among the top performers. Insurer Old Mutual added 4.4% and Barclays rose 4.3%. Hargreaves Lansdown gained 4.3%, St James’s Place rose 4.2% and Aberdeen Asset Management was 4% higher.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 2.2% to 4,417, and the German Xetra Dax added 1.6% to 9,798.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.5% to 16,466, the S&P 500 added 2.5% to 1,940, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.4% higher at 4,613.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 2% to 17,865, and the broader Topix index gained 2.1% to 1,462. And in China, the CSI 300 lost 1.5% to 2,901, and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.8% to 2,688.
Brent spot was trading at $35.10 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $32.78. Spot gold was trading at $1,122 an ounce, silver was at $14.31 and platinum was at $866.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4282 and against the euro at 1.3160. The dollar was trading at 0.9214 against the euro and 121.26 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, Rolls-Royce says it has won an order worth £1.9bn to supply its Trent 1000 engines for Norwegian’ Air’s new 787 aircraft. The struggling engine-maker has issued five profits warnings in two years.