- FTSE 100 down 0.9% to 6,784
- Gold down 0.03% to $1,181.65
- £/$ – 1.5561
The FTSE 100 ended a poor week on a decidedly downbeat note on Friday, sliding 0.9% to close at 6,784.
Precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey was the day’s biggest faller with a 3.1% drop. Oil stocks were also out of favour, with Royal Dutch Shell and BP each falling 2.1%.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 lost 1.4% to 4,901, and the German Xetra Dax fell 1.2% to 11,196.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 17,898, the S&P 500 lost 0.7% to 2,094, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.6% lower at 5,051.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% to 20,387, and the broader Topix index was flat at 1,651. And in China, the Shanghai Composite fell 2% to 5,062, and the CSI 300 slid 2.1% to 5,222.
Brent spot was trading at $63.90 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $59.92. Spot gold was trading at $1,179 an ounce, silver was at $15.89, and platinum was at $1,084.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5535 and against the euro at 1.3822. The dollar was trading at 0.8897 against the euro and 123.54 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, Majestic Wine reported a big fall in annual profits today. Pre-tax profits for the year to 30 March fell by 22.5% to £18.4m. Revenues rose by 2.3% to £284.5m, and sales rose by 1.9%.