- FTSE 100 up 0.7% to 5,966
- Gold up 0.47% to $1,291.75/oz
- £/$ – 1.4204
The FTSE paused for breath yesterday, clawing back 0.7% to close at 5,966.
Commodity stocks provided the main impetus. Glencore was the day’s highest climber, up 6.5%, while Antofagasta added 6.4% and Anglo American was 5.3% higher.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 1% to 4,171 and the German Xetra Dax gained 0.9% to 9,606.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each slipped 0.2% to 17,640 and 2,071 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower at 4,834.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 3.1% to 15,434 and the broader Topix index fell 2.8% to 1,241. And in China, the CSI 300 fell 0.7% to 3,094 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% lower at 2,872.
Brent spot was trading at $48.51 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $47.48. Spot gold was trading at $1,310 an ounce, silver was at $17.72 and platinum was at $982.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4155 and against the euro at 1.2565. The dollar was trading at 0.8877 against the euro and 103.87 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, handbag-maker Mulberry saw a big rise in profits in the last year. Pre-tax profit for the 12 months to the end of March rose by 226% to £6.2m, up from £1.9m the previous year.