Markets: FTSE 100 ends the week with a sharp fall

FTSE 100 down 1.1% to 6,501
Gold up 1.14% to $1,222.52/oz
£/$ - 1.5160

Housebuilders were the day's worst performers data released suggested construction output fell 2% in November. Taylor Wimpey was the biggest faller of the day, down 5.4%, while Persimmon lost 5.2% and Barratt was 5.1% lower.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1% to 17,737, the S&P 500 lost 0.8% to 2,044, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% lower at 4,704.

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In Japan, markets were closed for public holiday. And in China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.7% to 3,229, and the CSI 300 was 0.9% lower at 3,513.

Brent spot was trading at $48.69 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $47.18. Spot gold was trading at $1,224 an ounce, silver was at $16.58 and platinum was at $1,229.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5112 and against the euro at 1.2790. The dollar was trading at 0.8463 against the euro and 118.70 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Jaguar Land Rover reported a 9% rise in sales last year, the fifth year in a row of rising sales. Sales in China rose by 28%, and in the UK by 7%. The company is to create 1,300 jobs in the UK to build a new model, it said.

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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