Markets: FTSE 100 little changed

• FTSE 100 down 0.3% to 6,731
• Gold up 0.32% to $1,200.95/oz
• £/$ - 1.5708

FTSE 100

Retail stocks acted as a brake on the index. Sainsbury's was the day's biggest faller, down 4.3%. Kingfisher lost 4.1%, while Morrisons lost 3.2% and Tesco fell 2.7%. Next and Marks & Spencer bucked the trend, however, rising 1% and 1.6% respectively.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 14 points to 4,382, and the German Xetra Dax added 76 points to 9,861.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped three points to 17,814, the S&P 500 lost 0.1% to 2,067, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% higher at 4,758.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to 17,383, and the broader Topix lost 0.2% to 1,406. And in China, the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 each added 1.4% to 2,604 and 2,723 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $78.06 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $73.83. Spot gold was trading at $1,199 an ounce, silver was at $16.50 and platinum was at $1,220.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5716 and against the euro at 1.2590. The dollar was trading at 0.8011 against the euro and 117.85 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Thomas Cook's chief executive, Harriet Green, has resigned after just two years in the job, saying her work at the company was "complete". The news drove shares down by 18% in early trading. Earnings before interest and taxation in the year to 30 September rose by 44% to £323m, but revenue fell from £9.3bn to £8.6bn.

David Stevenson, former MoneyWeek writer and director of The Fleet Street Letter, believessilver could be about to start a record climb. Click here(capital at risk)to read about the three irresistible forces David believes could push the price of silver through the roof.