Markets: FTSE 100 edges higher

• FTSE 100 up 0.1% to 7,013
• Gold down 0.29% to $1,206.34/oz
• £/$ - 1.5662

Fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management was the day's top performer with a 2.2% rise, while Hargreaves Lansdown rose 1.7%. Among retailers, Marks & Spencer celebrated its rise in profits by adding 1.7%, and Kingfisher rose 1.4%.

In Europe's markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.3% to 5,146, and the German Xetra Dax added 0.1% to 11,864.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged at 18,285, the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 2,130, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4%higher at 5,090.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% to 20,264, and the broader Topix index added 0.1% to 1,647. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 2.8% to 4,657, and the CSI 300 added 2.3% to 4,951.

Brent spot was trading at $66.47 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $60.67. Spot gold was trading at $1,215 an ounce, silver was at $17.28, and platinum was at $1,159.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5673 and against the euro at 1.4042. The dollar was trading at 0.8959 against the euro and 120.75 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, water company Severn Trent reported a fall in profits for the year. Pre-tax profits fell by 53.5% to £148.2m, down from £318.9m a year earlier. After stripping out exceptional items, however, the company made an underlying profit of £540.3m, with turnover up by 2.5% to £1.8bn.