Markets: FTSE100 unchanged after early gains are wiped out

The FTSE 100 started well yesterday on hopes of ECB money-printing, but all gains had been erased by the end of the day. The market closed unchanged at 6,501.

By MoneyWeek
published
  • FTSE 100 unchanged at 6,501
  • Gold up 0.88% to $1,233.26/oz
  • £/$ - 1.5171

Engineer GKN topped the index with a 3.2% rise. While at the other end of the table, utility SSE slid 5.8%, while peer Centrica lost 2.9%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 49 points to 4,228, and the German Xetra Dax added 133 points to 9,781.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 17,640, the S&P 500 lost 0.8% to 2,028 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.8% lower at 4,664.

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In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 17,087, and the broader Topix index slipped 0.4% to 1,374. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,235, and the CSI 300 was one point higher at 3,514.

Brent spot was trading at $45.63 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $44.69. Spot gold was trading at $1,242 an ounce, silver was at $16.93 and platinum was at $1,241.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5127 and against the euro at 1.2794. The dollar was trading at 0.8457 against the euro and 118.28 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Morrisons says its CEO, Dalton Philips, is to leave, after it reported a 3.1% fall in like-for-like sales over Christmas. Total sales fell by 1.3%. Philips, who has been in post for five years, will leave after the company reports its annual results in March. Shares rose by over 4% in early trading today.

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