Markets: FTSE 100 edges back up

• FTSE 100 up 0.4% to 6,284
• Gold up 0.44% to $1,243.40/oz
• £/$ 1.4582

FTSE 100

Housebuilders and property stocks were among the top performers. Berkeley Group, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon rose between 2.9% and 2.5%, while Intu Properties gained 3% and Land Securities was 2.7% higher. The day's highest climber was Standard Chartered, which added 9.8%.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.3% to 4,533, and the German Xetra Dax lost 0.3% to 10,259.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 17,990, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 2,091, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower at 4,888.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 17,290 and the broader Topix index lost 0.5% to 1,384. And in China, the CSI 300 and the Shanghai Composite each fell 0.4% to 3,165 and 2,953 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $46.36 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $44.59. Spot gold was trading at $1,246 an ounce, silver was at $17.28 and platinum was at $1,015.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4594 and against the euro at 1.2885. The dollar was trading at 0.8829 against the euro and 111.16 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Barclays reported a big fall in first quarter profits. The bank made a pre-tax profit of £793m in the first three months of the year, down 25%. Analysts had been expecting something in the region of £846m.