Markets: FTSE 100 falls further ahead of EU Greece meeting

The FTSE 100 continued its fall yesterday, ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers to discuss Greece. The index closed down 0.2% at 6,818.

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  • FTSE 100 down 0.2% to 6,818
  • Gold down 1.2% to $1,219.02/oz
  • £/$ - 1.5238

Tullow Oil was the day's biggest faller, sliding 7.2% after saying it is to suspend its dividend. Housebuilders were on good form, however, with Persimmon, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey up between 3.6% and 2.3%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.4% to 4,679, and the German Xetra Dax slipped one point 10,752.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell six points to 17,862, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 2,068, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% higher at 4,801.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% to 17,979, and the broader Topix index rose 1.5% to 1,449. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.4% to 3,157, and the CSI 300 added 0.8% to 3,434.

Brent spot was trading at $55.65 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $50.00. Spot gold was trading at $1,227 an ounce, silver was at $16.87 and platinum was at $1,197.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5283 and against the euro at 1.3458. The dollar was trading at 0.8831 against the euro and 119.61 against the Japanese yen.

And today, BT says it is to launch a £1bn share placing to help fund its £12.5bn purchase of EE from Deutsche Telekom and Orange. The placing represents 3% of BT's share capital.

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