Markets: FTSE 100 ends the week on a positive note

• FTSE 100 up 0.2% to 7,070
• Gold down 1.22% to $1,179.44/oz
• £/$ - 1.5171

HSBC was the day's top performer, climbing 2.9%. Housebuilders were also in demand. Barratt Developments added 2.2% and Taylor Wimpey rose 2.1%, and building materials supplier CRH was 2.4% higher.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.4% to 5,201, and the German Xetra Dax gained 0.7% to 11,810.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 18,080, the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 2,117, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% higher at 5,092.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to 19,983, and the broader Topix index gained one point to 1,619. And in China, the Shanghai Composite added 3% to 4,527, and the CSI 300 was 2.2% higher at 4,807.

Brent spot was trading at $65.19 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $56.93. Spot gold was trading at $1,183 an ounce, silver was at $15.82 and platinum was at $1,122.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5154 and against the euro at 1.3958. The dollar was trading at 0.9210 against the euro and 119.16 against the Japanese yen.

And today, RBS says it is to sell a portfolio of North American loans to Japanese bank Mizuho for $500m. Mizuho, which bought $3bn worth of loans from RBS in February, will also be taking on up to 200 RBS staff, according to Bloomberg.