- FTSE 100 up 0.6% to 6,319
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,245.83/oz
- £/$ – 1.4543
The FTSE 100 nudged higher yesterday, adding 0.6% to close at 6,319.
Airlines fared well, with International Consolidated and EasyJet both up by 3.6%. Miner Anglo American was the day’s highest climber, up 4.5%.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 4,533, and the German Xetra Dax lost 0.3% to 10,259.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 18,041, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 2,095, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 4,863.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 3.6% to 16,666 and the broader Topix index lost 3.1% to 1,340. And in China, the CSI 300 slipped 0.2% to 3,160 and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3% to 2,945.
Brent spot was trading at $46.81 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $45.04. Spot gold was trading at $1,257 an ounce, silver was at $17.36 and platinum was at $1,034.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4597 and against the euro at 1.2856. The dollar was trading at 0.8807 against the euro and 108.28 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, house prices rose by 0.2% in April, the lowest rise since November last year, according to the latest figures from the Halifax. Year on year, prices are up by 4.9%, down from 5.7% in March. The average price of a home now stands at £202,436.