Markets: FTSE 100 pulls back from record high

published 17 April 2015

FTSE 100 down 0.5% to 7,060
Gold down 0.34% to $1,198.56/oz
£/$ - 1.4934

Publishing group Pearson led the market down, sliding 4% after news that it may face legal action over an educational contract in the US. Drinks group Diageo lost 3.6%, and engineering group Meggitt fell 3.1%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.6% to 5,224, and the German Xetra Dax slid 1.9% to 11,998.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped seven points to 18,105, the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 2,104, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% lower at 5,007.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.2% to 19,652, and the broader Topix index fell 0.7% to 1,588. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 2.2% to 4,287, and the CSI 300 added 1.8% to 4,596.

Brent spot was trading at $63.67 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $56.37. Spot gold was trading at $1,204 an ounce, silver was at $16.36 and platinum was at $1,164.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4971 and against the euro at 1.3873. The dollar was trading at 0.9266 against the euro and 118.81 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Morrisons says it plans to cut 720 of the 2,300 staff at its Bradford head office, while creating up to 5,000 shop floor jobs. Office staff being made redundant will be offered jobs in the company's stores.