Markets: FTSE 100 closes lower

• FTSE 100 down 0.5% to 6,342
• Gold up 0.43% to 1,168.80
• £/$ - 1.5248

FTSE 100

Royal Mail was the day's biggest faller, down 4% after it was revealed that the government had sold its remaining 13% stake for £591m. Tesco fell 3.7%, and G4S was 3.3% lower.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 1% to 4,643, and the German Xetra Dax was 0.9% lower at 10,032.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 17,081, the S&P 500 slipped 0.7% to 2,003, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9% to 4,796.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 1.9% to 17,891, and the broader Topix index lost 2.2% to 1,470. And in China, the CSI 300 fell 1.1% to 3,406, and the Shanghai Composite was 0.9% lower at 3,262.

Brent spot was trading at $49.08 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $46.66. Spot gold was trading at $1,176 an ounce, silver was at $16.05 and platinum was at $993.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5320 and against the euro at 1.3415. The dollar was trading at 0.8756 against the euro and 119.53 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Domino's Pizza reported a big rise in sales in the last quarter. Like-for-like sales in the three months to 27 September rose by 14.9% to £200m. Online sales rose by 35% after the company introduced a mobile app. More than 75% of its sales are now made online, it said.