- FTSE 100 up 1.2% to 6,212
- Gold up 2.81% to $1,266.99/oz
- £/$ – 1.4297
The FTSE 100 rose yesterday after George Osborne presented his Budget to Parliament. The index gained 1.2% to close at 6,212.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals was the day’s highest climber, up 5.9%. Wealth manager St James’s Place added 3.8%, and housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was 3.3% higher.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 4,493, and the German Xetra Dax added 0.9% to 10,025.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 17,325, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to 2,027, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.8% higher at 4,763.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to 16,936, and the broader Topix index fell 0.1% to 1,358. And in China, the CSI 300 added 1.1% to 3,124, and the Shanghai Composite was 1.2% higher at 2,904.
Brent spot was trading at $41.12 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $39.45. Spot gold was trading at $1,266 an ounce, silver was at $15.68 and platinum was at $985.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4299 and against the euro at 1.2666. The dollar was trading at 0.8858 against the euro and 111.66 against the Japanese yen.
And today, fashion retailer Ted Baker reported a big rise in profits last year. Pre-tax profits in the 12 months to 30 January rose by 20.3% to £58.7m, while sales rose by 17% to £456.2m.