Markets: FTSE 100 sees a big rise

• FTSE 100 up 2% to 6,268
• Gold down 1.15% to 1,070.32/oz
• £/$ - 1.5213

FTSE 100

Engineer Smiths Group leaped 10.2% after restructuring its pension fund, despite reporting a 4% fall in revenue in the first quarter. Rolls-Royce continued to claw back its losses, climbing 5.1%, and Hargreaves Lansdown added 3.8%. Easyjet fell 4.1% despite posting a fifth straight year of record profits.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 gained 2.8% to 4,937, and the German Xetra Dax rose 2.4% to 10,971.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose six points to 17,489, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 2,050, and the Nasdaq Composite was one point higher at 4,986.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.1% to 19,649, and the broader Topix index was flat at 1,586. And in China, the CSI 300 fell 1.1% to 3,715 and the Shanghai Composite was 1% lower at 3,568.

Brent spot was trading at $44.23 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $41.21. Spot gold was trading at $1,071 an ounce, silver was at $14.24 and platinum was at $849.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5206 and against the euro at 1.4253. The dollar was trading at 0.9373 against the euro and 123.30 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK today, energy secretary Amber Rudd says the country's coal-fired power stations must close by 2025, and be replaced by cleaner-burning gas-fired plants. Coal currently provides around 28% of Britain's electricity.