Markets: FTSE 100 slips back

• FTSE 100 down 0.4% to 6,699
• Gold up 1.2% to $1,331.43/oz
• £/$ 1.3233

Travel stocks were among the hardest hit. EasyJet was the day's biggest faller, down 5.5% after a disappointing set of quarterly results. International Consolidated Airlines lost 3.6%, and TUI Travel was 1.8% lower.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.1% to 4,376 and the German Xetra Dax added 0.1% to 10,156.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each fell 0.4% to 18,517 and 2,165 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% lower at 5,073.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.1% to 16,627 and the broader Topix index fell 0.9% to 1,327. And in China, the CSI 300 fell 0.8% to 3,225, and the Shanghai Composite was 0.9% lower at 3,012.

Brent spot was trading at $45.88 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $44.29. Spot gold was trading at $1,325 an ounce, silver was at $19.60 and platinum was at $1,093.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3245 and against the euro at 1.2012. The dollar was trading at 0.9069 against the euro and 106.11 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Vodafone reported a better than expected rise in revenue for the first quarter, the eighth in a row. Organic service revenue rose by 2.2%, driven by growth in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, which rose by 7.7%.