Markets: FTSE 100 ends a torrid week on a high note

• FTSE 100 up 1.2% to 6,021
• Gold up 1.58% to $1,298.65/oz
• £/$ 1.4358

Financial stocks were among the top performers. Lloyds led the index up with a 6% rise, while Standard Chartered rose 5.1%, Barclays added 4.6% and RBS was 3.7% higher, Housebuilders were also in demand, with Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley Group and Persimmon up between 4.5% and 3.6%,

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 1% to 4,193 and the German Xetra Dax added 0.8% to 9,631.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each fell 0.3% to 17,675 and 2,071 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% lower at 4,800.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.3% to 15,965 and the broader Topix index gained 2.3% to 1,279. And in China, the CSI 300 added 0.1% to 3,112 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% higher at 2,888.

Brent spot was trading at $49.97 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $48.67. Spot gold was trading at $1,287 an ounce, silver was at $17.52 and platinum was at $974.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4593 and against the euro at 1.2864. The dollar was trading at 0.8815 against the euro and 104.54 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, property asking prices rose to a record high last month, according to the latest figures from Rightmove. Nationwide, asking prices rose by 0.8% in May, making the average £310,471. In London, however, asking prices fell by 0.2%.