Markets: FTSE 100 sees sixth day of rises

In yesterday's markets, the FTSE 100 saw the sixth day of rises in a row in the last full day’s trading before Christmas. The index rose 0.3% to close at 6,598.

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  • FTSE 100 up 0.3% to 6,598
  • Gold up 0.02% to $1,176.65/oz
  • £/$ - 1.5522

FTSE 100

Supermarkets were in demand. Wm Morrison rose 2.5%, Tesco added 2%, and Sainsbury's was 1.9% higher. Tullow Oil topped the index with a 3.1%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 60 points to 4,314, and the German Xetra Dax added 57 points to 9,922.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 18,024, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 2,082, but the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% to 4,765.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 17,854, and the broader Topix index gained 0.9% to 1,426. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid 2% to 2,972, and the CSI 300 was 2.8% lower at 3,230.

Brent spot was trading at $61.29 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $56.69. Spot gold was trading at $1,180 an ounce, silver was at $15.85 and platinum was at $1,190.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5545 and against the euro at 1.2746. The dollar was trading at 0.8199 against the euro and 120.42 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, retail sales are forecast to hit an all-time high this year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Total sales are expected to come in at £342bn, £48bn more than in 2010. Sales in the run up to Christmas are up by 5.2% compared to last year.

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