Markets: FTSE 100 adds to gains as pharmaceuticals climb

• FTSE 100 up 0.7% to 6,761
• Gold down 0.14% to $1,153.68/oz
• £/$ - 1.4883

Pharmaceuticals were the day's best performers. AstraZeneca was the top climber with a 4.1% rise, while Shire added 2.7% and GlaxoSmithKline was 1.9% higher.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.2% to 4,987, and the German Xetra Dax slipped 0.1% to 11,799.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5% to 17,895, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% to 2,065, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% higher at 4,893.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% to 19,254, and the broader Topix index added 0.9% to 1,560. And in China, the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 each gained 0.7% to 3,372 and 3,617 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $56.73 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $47.06. Spot gold was trading at $1,159 an ounce, silver was at $15.60 and platinum was at $1,118.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4870 and against the euro at 1.4020. The dollar was trading at 0.9428 against the euro and 121.40 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, pubs group JD Wetherspoon reported a 4.1% increase in profit for the first half of the year. The company, which has 900 pubs and plans to open 200 more, made a pre-tax profit of £37.5m in the six months to 25 January. Takings were up by 9 %to £744.4m.