- FTSE 100 up 2.3% to 6,012
- Gold up 0.35% to $1,233.03/oz
- £/$ – 1.3962
The FTSE 100 bounced back yesterday, closing down 1.6% at 5,876.
Financial stocks were the day’s best performers. Lloyds led the index up with a gain of 13.6%. RSA Insurance added 10.1%, while RBS and Barclays each added 5.1%.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 2.2% to 4,248, and the German Xetra Dax added 1.8% to 9,331.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% to 16,697, the S&P 500 added 1.1% to 1,951, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% higher at 4,582.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 16,188, and the broader Topix index rose 0.3% to 1,311. And in China, the CSI 300 added 1% to 2,948, and the Shanghai Composite gained 1% to 2,767.
Brent spot was trading at $35.35 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $33.29. Spot gold was trading at $1,231 an ounce, silver was at $14.98 and platinum was at $918.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3998 and against the euro at 1.2697. The dollar was trading at 0.9071 against the euro and 112.81 against the Japanese yen.
And today, RBS reported a £2bn loss in 2015, the eighth year in a row in which it has failed to make a profit. Chief executive Ross McEwan, however, saw his total pay rise by 111% to £3.8m, up from £1.8m in 2014.