Markets: FTSE 100 ends a disappoint week with more falls

FTSE 100 down 0.6% to 6,238
Gold up 2.32% to 1,086.84/oz
£/$ - 1.5112

FTSE 100

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.3% to 4,714, and the German Xetra Dax lost 0.3% to 10,752.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each rose 2.1% to 17,847 and 2,091 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.1% higher at 5,142.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 19,698, and the broader Topix index rose 0.7% to 1,585. And in China, the CSI 300 added 0.3% to 3,687, and the Shanghai Composite was 0.3% higher at 3,536.

Brent spot was trading at $42.79 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $39.59. Spot gold was trading at $1,084 an ounce, silver was at $14.59 and platinum was at $877.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5076 and against the euro at 1.3939. The dollar was trading at 0.9245 against the euro and 123.39 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, government contractor Serco said it expects to make profits of £50m in 2016 on revenue of £2.8bn, slightly ahead of expectations of £2.8bn. The company was barred from any new government contracts for six months in 2013 after defrauding the taxpayer to the tune of £68.5m by overcharging for electronic monitoring for nearly a decade.

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