Markets: Financial and commodity stocks drive FTSE 100 higher

The FTSE 100 continued to climb yesterday, boosted by commodity and financial stocks. The index added a further 1.9% to close at 6,362.

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  • FTSE 100 up 1.9% to 6,362
  • Gold down 1.04% to $1,242.47/oz
  • £/$ 1.4204

FTSE 100

Once again, Anglo American led the index up with an 11.1% rise, while BHP Billiton rose 9.2% and Rio Tinto added 7.6%. Among financials, Standard Chartered rose 10.7%, while Barclays, HSBC and RBS gained between 7.2% and 6.4%.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 3.3% to 4,490, and the German Xetra Dax added 2.7% to 10,026.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 17,908, the S&P 500 added 1% to 2,082, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.6% higher at 4,947.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 3.2% to 16,911, and the broader Topix index gained 2.9% to 1,371. And in China, the CSI 300 added 0.4% to 3,275, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% to 3,225.

Brent spot was trading at $43.44 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $40.97. Spot gold was trading at $1,240 an ounce, silver was at $16.06 and platinum was at $989.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4118 and against the euro at 1.2556. The dollar was trading at 0.8893 against the euro and 109.19 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Debenhams, the country's second-largest department store chain, reported a rise in first half profits, beating market expectations. Underlying pre-tax profit in the six months to 27 February rose by 5.5% to £93.8m. Analysts had forecast between £88.9m and £91m.

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