Markets: FTSE 100 slips further as oil price weighs on stocks

FTSE 100 down 0.1% to 6,940
Gold down 0.51% to $1,206.83/oz
£/$ - 1.5366

Tullow Oil was the day's biggest faller, down 7.8%. Royal Dutch Shell lost 2.1% and BG Group fell 1.3%.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to 18,288, the S&P 500 added 0.6% to 2,117, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% higher at 5,008.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% to 18,815, and the broader Topix index rose 0.1% to 1,526. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid 2.2% to 3,263, and the CSI 300 lost 2.6% to 3,507.

Brent spot was trading at $60.06 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $50.01. Spot gold was trading at $1,208 an ounce, silver was at $16.36 and platinum was at $1,185.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5364 and against the euro at 1.3738. The dollar was trading at 0.8941 against the euro and 119.77 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Barclays reported a big fall in profits for the year. Statutory pre-tax profits fell by 21 %to £2.26bn for the 12 months to 31 December, after the bank set aside £750m to cover the costs of currency rigging allegations.

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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