Markets: energy stocks weigh on the FTSE 100

• FTSE 100 down 0.1% to 6,723
• Gold down 0.92% to $1,191.07/oz
• £/$ - 1.5736

FTSE 100

Tullow Oil was the day's biggest faller, down 7.2%. Petrofac lost 6.2% and BG Group fell 6%, while Royal Dutch Shell and BP lost 4.3% and 2.7% respectively.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose nine points to 4,382, and the German Xetra Dax rose 59 points to 9,974.

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In the US, markets were closed for a public holiday.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 17,459, and the broader Topix added 1.3% to 1,410. And in China, the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 each gained 2% to 2,682 and 2,808 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $71.86 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $68.63. Spot gold was trading at $1,184 an ounce, silver was at $16.09 and platinum was at $1,211.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5697 and against the euro at 1.2621. The dollar was trading at 0.8040 against the euro and 118.16 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, house prices rose by 0.3% in November, according to the latest figures from the Nationwide, down from 0.5% in October. Prices rose by 8.5% over the year, bringing the average price of a home to £189,388.

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