Markets: FTSE 100 slips back

• FTSE 100 down 0.3% at 6,769
• Gold up 0.42% to $1,101.25
• £/$ - 1.5564

FTSE 100

Insurer Easyjet was the day's worst performer, down 3.2% ahead of today's results. Barratt Developments fell 2.5%, and Ashtead lost 2.3%.

In Europe's markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.7% to 5,106, and the German Xetra Dax was 1.1% lower at 11,604.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0% to 17,919, the S&P 500 lost 0.4% to 2,119, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower at 5,208.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 1.2% to 20,593, and the broader Topix index lost 1.1% to 1,655. And in China, the CSI 300 fell 0.2% to 4,157, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.2% to 4,026.

Brent spot was trading at $56.47 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $50.16. Spot gold was trading at $1,095 an ounce, silver was at $14.75 and platinum was at $972.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5619 and against the euro at 1.4270. The dollar was trading at 0.9138 against the euro and 123.76 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Easyjet reported a 1% fall in revenue in the third quarter to £1.23bn. The number of passengers it carried rose by 6.2% to 19.1m, but revenue was hit by strike action by French air traffic controllers, and a fire at Rome's Fiumicino airport. It expects to see an increase in full-year pre-tax profits of up to 14%, making between £620m and £660m.