Markets: oil stocks drag FTSE 100 down

• FTSE 100 down 0.3% to 6,710
• Gold down 0.54% to $1,315.60/oz
• £/$ 1.3140

Oil stocks were among the biggest fallers. BP lost 2.6%, while Royal Dutch Shell was 2.6% lower. Precious metals miner Randgold was the day's worst performer, down 3.4%.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.2% to 4,388 and the German Xetra Dax gained 0.5% to 10,198.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 18,493, the S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 2,168, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% lower at 5,097.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 and the broader Topix index each lost 1.4% to 16,383 and 1,306 respectively. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 1.2% to 3,269, and the Shanghai Composite was 1.1% higher at 3,050.

Brent spot was trading at $44.85 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $43.17. Spot gold was trading at $1,322 an ounce, silver was at $19.59 and platinum was at $1,085.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3089 and against the euro at 1.1899. The dollar was trading at 0.9091 against the euro and 104.28 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, RBS and NatWest have warned that they could impose negative interest rates on theircommercial customers if the Bank of England lowers the base rate to below zero. Interest rates have been at 0.5% since March 2009, with the Bank of England meeting next week to decide on whether to change them.