Markets: FTSE 100 adds to Friday’s gains

published 23 December 2014

FTSE 100 up 0.5% to 6,576
Gold down 1.66% to $1,176.45/oz
£/$ - 1.5590

FTSE 100

Insurer Admiral was the day's top performer, climbing 2.3%. But commodity stocks were again out of favour, with Randgold Resources shedding 6.3% and Tullow Oil down 4.1%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 13 points to 4,254, and the German Xetra Dax added 79 points to 9,865.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to 17,959, the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to 2,078, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% higher at 4,781.

Japan's markets were closed for a public holiday. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid 3% to 3,032, and the CSI 300 was 2.1% lower at 3,324.

Brent spot was trading at $60.35 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $55.69. Spot gold was trading at $1,182 an ounce, silver was at $15.74 and platinum was at $1,186.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5590 and against the euro at 1.2737. The dollar was trading at 0.8170 against the euro and 120.14 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, confectioner Thorntons saw its share price slide by 25% at the open of business today after warning that its profits would be lower than expected. The company blamed poor sales in the run up to Christmas after a "significant reduction" in orders from supermarkets.

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