Markets: FTSE 100 continues to rise

• FTSE 100 up 1.4% to 6,682
• Gold down 0.8% to $1,355.40/oz
• £/$ 1.2998

Housebuilders were once again in demand. Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group gained between 7.7% and 7%, while building supplies merchant Travis Perkins added 7.8%. The day's top performer was miner Antofagasta, which rose 8.6%.

Banks were also in demand, with RBS up 6.4% and Lloyds 5.9% higher.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 1.8% to 4,264 and the German Xetra Dax added 2.1% to 9,833.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 18,226, the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 2,137 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.6% higher at 4,988.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.5% to 16,095 and the broader Topix index gained 2.4% to 1,285. And in China, the CSI 300 added 2.2% to 3,273 and the Shanghai Composite was 1.8% higher at 3,049.

Brent spot was trading at $46.54 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $44.96. Spot gold was trading at $1,357 an ounce, silver was at $20.48 and platinum was at $1,104.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3111 and against the euro at 1.1807. The dollar was trading at 0.9005 against the euro and 102.95 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, retail sales fell in June, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium. Like-for like sales fell by 0.5% in the previous year, compared with a 0.5% increase in May, Total sales rose by 0.2%, down from 1.4% in May.