Markets: ARM sale boosts FTSE 100

• FTSE 100 up 0.4% to 6,695
• Gold down 0.64% to $1,328.85/oz
• £/$ 1.3255

The sale of chipmaker ARM to Japanese firm Softbank boosted its share price by 40.9%.Other stocks in demand included RBS, which added 3.2%, Marks & Spencer, which rose 2.9%, and RSA Insurance which was 2.7% higher.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.3% to 4,357 and the German Xetra Dax slipped three points to 10,063.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 18,533 the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 2,166, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5% higher at 5,055.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.4% to 16,723 and the broader Topix index added 1.1% to 1,331. And in China, the CSI 300 fell 0.4% to 3,248 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.2% lower at 3,036.

Brent spot was trading at $46.81 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $45.11. Spot gold was trading at $1,330 an ounce, silver was at $19.84 and platinum was at $1,086.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3188 and against the euro at 1.1929. The dollar was trading at 0.9045 against the euro and 105.92 against the Japanese yen.