Markets: FTSE 100 ends the week 6.6% lower

Gold down 0.41% to $1,222.50/oz
£/$ - 1.5716

FTSE 100

Financial stocks were among the biggest fallers. Aviva lost 3.9%, St James's Place fell 3.8% and Standard Life was 3.6% lower. The day's worst performer was oil services firm Petrofac, which lost 6.4%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 117 points to 4,108, and the German Xetra Dax slid 268 points to 9,594.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.8% to 17,280, the S&P 500 fell 1.6% to 2,002, and the Nasdaq Composite each was 1.2% lower at 4,653.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 1.6% to 17,099, and the broader Topix lost 1.5% to 1,379. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% to 2,953 and the CSI 300 was 0.8% higher at 3,217.

Brent spot was trading at $62.60 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $58.37. Spot gold was trading at $1,212 an ounce, silver was at $16.86 and platinum was at $1,218.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5719 and against the euro at 1.2634. The dollar was trading at 0.8037 against the euro and 118.40 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, asking prices for houses slid by 3.3% in December, according to property website Rightmove the biggest monthly fall it has ever recorded. Asking prices in London fell by 5.1%.

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.

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