Markets: FTSE 100 unchanged

• FTSE 100 up three points to 6,365
• Gold down 1.17% to $1,227.89/oz
• £/$ 1.4155

FTSE 100

BHP Billiton topped the list of rises, adding 1.8%. Other stocks in positive territory included Johnson Matthey and Mediclinic International, which each rose 1.5%. It was a bad day for housebuilders, however, with Persimmon, Barratt and Berkeley down between 6% and 3.7%.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 4,511, and the German Xetra Dax added 0.7% to 10,093.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 17,926, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 2,082, and the Nasdaq Composite was two points lower at 4,945.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 16,848, and the broader Topix index lost 0.7% to 1,361. And in China, the CSI 300 slipped 0.1% to 3,272, and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% to 3,078.

Brent spot was trading at $44.01 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $41.62. Spot gold was trading at $1,230 an ounce, silver was at $16.19 and platinum was at $986.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4162 and against the euro at 1.2579. The dollar was trading at 0.8882 against the euro and 109.30 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Leeds-based gym operator Pure Gym, which bought LA Fitness for £70m, reported a big rise in revenue in the last 12 months. In the year to 31 December, revenue rose by 82% to £125.2m. Membership rose by 62% to 670,000.