Markets: FTSE 100 slips back from its high

The FTSE 100 slipped back from its five-month high yesterday, falling 0.2% to close at 6,860.

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  • FTSE 100 down 0.2% to 6,860
  • Gold up 0.7% to $1,269.22/oz
  • £/$ - 1.5166

Commodity stocks ended their brief rally. Tullow Oil lost 5.2%, BHP Billiton lost 2% and BG Group was 1.4% lower. The day's biggest faller was investment manager Hargreaves Lansdown, which lost 7.6% after earnings fell short of expectations.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.4% to 4,696, and the German Xetra Dax rose 0.2% to 10,911.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added six points to 17,673, the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 2,041, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower at 4,716.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 1% to 17,504, and the broader Topix index fell 0.5% to 1,410. And in China, the Shanghai Composite lost 1.2% to 3,136, and the CSI 300 fell 1% to 3,336.

Brent spot was trading at $53.44 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $47.90. Spot gold was trading at $1,267 an ounce, silver was at $17.24 and platinum was at $1,237.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5200 and against the euro at 1.3373. The dollar was trading at 0.8798 against the euro and 117.33 against the Japanese yen.

And today, BT says it has agreed the £12.5bn purchase of mobile operator EE from current owners Deutsche Telekom and Orange. BT is to issue around £1bn of new shares to help fund its purchase.

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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