Markets: commodities rout drags FTSE 100 further down

• FTSE 100 down 1.9% to 5,804
• Gold up 0.97% to 1,088.88/oz
• £/$ - 1.4258

FTSE 100

Commodity stocks led the index down. Anglo American was the biggest faller of the day, down 11.5%, while Glencore lost 7% and BHP Billiton was 6.5% lower.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 2.4% to 4,210, and the German Xetra Dax lost 2.5% to 9,545.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 2.4% to 15,988, the S&P 500 lost 2.2% to 1,880, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.7% lower at 4,488.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.1% to 16,955, and the broader Topix index was 1% lower at 1,387. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 0.4% to 3,130, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 2,913.

Brent spot was trading at $28.30 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $28.94. Spot gold was trading at $1,089 an ounce, silver was at $13.89 and platinum was at $826.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4312 and against the euro at 1.3152. The dollar was trading at 0.9189 against the euro and 117.33 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Home Retail Group says it has agreed to sell Homebase to Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers for £340m. The deal clears the way for Sainsbury's to acquire the rest of the business.