Markets: FTSE 100 edges higher

published 5 April 2016

FTSE 100 up 0.3% to 6,164
Gold down 0.57% to $1,215.59/oz
£/$ 1.4264

FTSE 100

South Africa-based private hospital group Mediclinic International was the day's highest climber, up 3.1%. Pharmaceuticals company Shire added 2.9%, and Anglo American was 1.8% higher.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 4,345, and the German Xetra Dax added 0.3% to 9,822.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 17,737, the S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 2,066, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5% lower at 4,891.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 2.4% to 15,732, and the broader Topix index fell 2.6% to 1,268. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 1.3% to 3,264, and the Shanghai Composite was 1.5% higher at 3,053.

Brent spot was trading at $37.45 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $35.38. Spot gold was trading at $1,229 an ounce, silver was at $15.07 and platinum was at $946.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4216 and against the euro at 1.2515. The dollar was trading at 0.8803 against the euro and 110.47 against the Japanese yen.

And today, there was some good news for the beleaguered supermarket sector. Sales growth rose at its fastest pace in 12 months in the last quarter, up 1.1% in the 212 weeks to 27 March. The Co-operative saw the biggest growth with a 3.9% rise in sales, increasing its market share to 6.1%.