Markets: FTSE 100 sees modest rises

• FTSE 100 up 0.2% at 6,788
• Gold down 3.33% to $1,096.68
• £/$ - 1.5564

FTSE 100

Sports Direct was the day's top performer, up 3.4%. Sainsbury's added 2.1%, and TUI was 1.8% higher. Precious metals miners Randgold and Fresnillo tracked the price of gold down, falling 4.7% and 4.4% respectively.

In Europe's markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.4% to 5,142, and the German Xetra Dax was 0.8% higher at 11,735.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 18,100, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to 2,128, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% higher at 5,218.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to 20,841, and the broader Topix index added 0.7% to 1,673. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 0.1% to 4,166, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.6% to 4,017.

Brent spot was trading at $56.78 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $50.19. Spot gold was trading at $1,108 an ounce, silver was at $14.84 and platinum was at $984.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5574 and against the euro at 1.4375. The dollar was trading at 0.9230 against the euro and 124.39 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Royal Mail reported a slowing in revenue growth in the last quarter. The number of letters sent fell by 5% in the three months to 28 June, with revenue down by 4%.Parcel deliveries rose by 3% in the UK and 9% in Europe. Overall revenue rose by 2%.