Miners drag FTSE 100 down

• FTSE 100 down 1.5% to 6,667
• Gold down 0.63% to $1,094.27
• £/$ - 1.5613

FTSE 100

Miners were the main drag on the index. BHP Billiton fell 5.7%, while Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto lost between 5.6% and 3.6%. The day's biggest faller was ARM Holdings, which lost 6.6% after reporting disappointing earnings.

In Europe's markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.5% to 5,082, and the German Xetra Dax was 0.7% lower at 11,520.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 17,851, the S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 2,114, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% lower at 5,171.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 20,683, and the broader Topix index added 0.6% to 1,664. And in China, the CSI 300 gained 2.3% to 4,250, and the Shanghai Composite rose 2.4% to 4,123.

Brent spot was trading at $55.99 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $49.24. Spot gold was trading at $1,104 an ounce, silver was at $14.93 and platinum was at $994.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5665 and against the euro at 1.4248. The dollar was trading at 0.9095 against the euro and 123.76 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, car exports rose to a seven-year high in June, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The number of cars exported in June rose by 9% on the same month last year to 163,759. Manufacturers in Britain are now making cars at the rate of three a minute.