- FTSE 100 down 1.2% to 5,962
- Gold up 1.4% to $1,225.60/oz
- £/$ – 1.4022
The FTSE 100 slipped back yesterday, closing down 1.2% at 5,962.
Miners were the day’s worst performing stocks. BHP Billiton slid 6.9%, while Anglo American lost 6.3% and Antofagasta was 4.1%.
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 1.4% to 4,238, and the German Xetra Dax lost 1.6% to 9,416.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 16,431, the S&P 500 lost 1.3% to 1,921, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.3% lower at 4,503.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% to 15,915, and the broader Topix index lost 0.5% to 1,284. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 0.7% to 3,109, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 2,928.
Brent spot was trading at $33.00 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $31.27. Spot gold was trading at $1,227 an ounce, silver was at $15.18 and platinum was at $934.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3931 and against the euro at 1.2687. The dollar was trading at 0.9107 against the euro and 111.96 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, the London Stock Exchange and Frankfurt’s Deutsche Borse are in talks to merge, creating one of the largest exchanges in the world. The combined group would be worth some £21bn.