- FTSE 100 down 2.7% to 5,689
- Gold up 1.31% to $1,189.25/oz
- £/$ – 1.4433
The FTSE100 took a big hit yesterday as markets around the world fell. The index closed down 2.7% at 5,689.
Payments processor Worldpay was the day’s biggest faller, falling 8.7%. Housebuilders were once again under fire, with Berkeley down 7.7%, while Taylor Wimpey and Barratt fell 6.8% and 6.5% respectively.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 slid 3.2% to 4,066, and the German Xetra Dax lost 3.3% to 8,979.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 16,027, the S&P 500 lost 1.2% to 1,853, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.8% lower at 4,283.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 5.4% to 16,085, and the broader Topix index lost 5.5% to 1,304. China’s stockmarkets remained closed for a public holiday.
Brent spot was trading at $33.30 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $30.33. Spot gold was trading at $1,188 an ounce, silver was at $15.32 and platinum was at $922.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4430 and against the euro at 1.2917. The dollar was trading at 0.8969 against the euro and 115.40 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, retail sales saw an unexpected rise in January, according to the latest data from the British Retail Consortium. Like-for-like sales rose by 2.6% in January compared with a year ago. Total sales rose by 3.3%.