Markets: FTSE 100’s rally ends

• FTSE 100 down 0.6% to 6,832
• Gold up 0.85% to $1,292.24/oz
• £/$ 1.5197

Engineering firms were among the worst performers Weir Group fell 2.8%, Rolls Royce lost 2.7% and GKN was 2.4% lower. TUI Travel was the biggest faller of the day, down 3.3%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 51 points to 4,640, and the German Xetra Dax slid 170 points to 10,628.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7% to 17,387, the S&P 500 lost 1.3% to 2,029, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.9% to 4,681.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% to 17,795, and the broader Topix index added 0.3% to 1,429. And in China, the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 each fell 1.4% to 3,305 and 3,525 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $49.03 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $45.49. Spot gold was trading at $1,289 an ounce, silver was at $17.99 and platinum was at $1,258.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5187 and against the euro at 1.3395. The dollar was trading at 0.8820 against the euro and 117.81 against the Japanese yen.

And today, property company Songbird Estates, which owns a majority stake in the Canary Wharf development in London, said it is recommending the £2.6bn takeover bid by the Qatari Investment Authority and US-based Brookfield Properties. Songbird had previously said the bid undervalued the company.

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