Markets: FTSE 100 virtually unchanged

FTSE 100 down two points to 6,680
Gold down 1.65% to $1,333.10/oz
£/$ 1.3247

International Consolidated Airlines was the highest climber, up 5.1%, and easyJet rose 4.3%. At the other end of the table, Mediclinic International lost 5%.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each rose 0.7% to 18,347and 2,152 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% higher at 5,022.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.8% to 16,231 and the broader Topix index gained 1.1% to 1,300. And in China, the CSI 300 added 0.3% to 3,282 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.4% higher at 3,060.

Brent spot was trading at $47.75 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $46.18. Spot gold was trading at $1,343 an ounce, silver was at $20.40 and platinum was at $1,094.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3266 and against the euro at 1.2005. The dollar was trading at 0.9049 against the euro and 104.38 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, South African retailer Steinhoff has agreed to pay £597m to take full control of Poundland. Steinhoff already owns 23.6% of the struggling discount retailer.