Markets: Financials continue to lift FTSE 100

• FTSE 100 up 0.7% to 6,262
• Gold down 0.23% to $1,224.41/oz
• £/$ 1.4697

Financial stocks were once again the day's top performers. RBS was the highest climber with a 4.4% rise, while Standard Chartered added 3.5%, and HSBC rose 2.8% and Barclays was 2.5% higher.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 1.1% to 4,481 and the German Xetra Dax added 1.5% to 10,205.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% to 17,851, the S&P 500 added 0.7% to 2,090, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% higher at 4,894.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.1% to 16,772 and the broader Topix was flat at 1,342. And in China, the CSI 300 added 0.2% to 3,064 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.3% higher at 2,822.

Brent spot was trading at $50.13 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $49.89. Spot gold was trading at $1,230 an ounce, silver was at $16.41 and platinum was at $1,006.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4722 and against the euro at 1.3177. The dollar was trading at 0.8950 against the euro and 109.91 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, profits fell at Daily Mail & General Trust as print advertising continued to shrink. Adjusted pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of March fall by 11% to £129m as print advertising revenue fell by 13%. Digital advertising, however, rose by 23%.