Markets: Miners drag FTSE 100 down

The FTSE 100’s rally ran out of steam on Friday. The index closed down 0.2% at 6,853.

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  • FTSE 100 down 0.2% to 6,853
  • Gold down 2.44% to $1,233.92/oz
  • £/$ - 1.5243

Miners were the worst performers. Randgold slid 4.3% and Fresnillo lost 4.1%, while Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost between 2.3% and 1.7%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.3% to 4,691, and the German Xetra Dax slipped 0.5% to 10,846.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each fell 10.3% to 17,824 and 2,055 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% lower at 4,744.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to 17,711, and the broader Topix index rose 0.6% to 1,424. And in China, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6% to 3,095, and the CSI 300 rose 1% to 3,345.

Brent spot was trading at $57.61 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $51.94. Spot gold was trading at $1,240 an ounce, silver was at $16.82 and platinum was at $1,226.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5237 and against the euro at 1.3434. The dollar was trading at 0.8816 against the euro and 118.65 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Randgold Resources says profits fell by 43% in the fourth quarter. The precious metals miner made a pre-tax profit of $73.3m, down from $129.7m in the same period last year. Annual profits fell by 17% to $353m.

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