Markets: FTSE 100 slips back as commodity stocks drag

• FTSE 100 down 0.2% to 6,810
• Gold down 2.1% to $1,257.38/oz
• £/$ - 1.5067

Precious metals miner Fresnillo was the day's biggest faller with a 5.2% fall, while Randgold Resources lost 3%. Royal Dutch Shell lost 4.9% after profits rose less than investors were expecting. BG Group and BP, meanwhile, each fell 1.9%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 21 points to 4,631, and the German Xetra Dax added 27 points to 10,710737

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% to 17,416, the S&P 500 added 1% to 2,021, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1% higher at 4,683.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% to 17,674, and the broader Topix index rose 0.1% to 1,415. And in China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.1% to 3,210, and the CSI 300 was 1.4% lower at 3,434.

Brent spot was trading at $49.13 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $44.66. Spot gold was trading at $1,262 an ounce, silver was at $16.92 and platinum was at $1,224.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5075 and against the euro at 1.3290. The dollar was trading at 0.8816 against the euro and 117.74 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Qatar Airways became the biggest shareholder in International Consolidated Airlines after it took a 9.99% stake worth £1.15bn. Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways, said: "IAG represents an excellent opportunity to further develop our westwards strategy."

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