Markets: FTSE 100 creeps back up

• FTSE 100 up 0.2% to 6,724
• Gold up 0.35% to $1,320.26/oz
• £/$ 1.3130

FTSE 100

Consumer credit provider Provident Financial was the day's top performer, up 5.7%. Packaging and paper company Mondi added 4.3% and GKN was 3.8% higher

The FTSE 250 slipped 0.1% to 17,069, and the FTSE All-Share index added 0.2% to 3,644.

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In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.2% to 4,394 and the German Xetra Dax gained 0.5% to 10,247.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1% to 18,473, the S&P 500 rose one point to 2,169, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% higher at 5,110.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.7% to 16,664 and the broader Topix index added 1.1% to 1,321. And in China, the CSI 300 lost 1.7% to 3,218, and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.9% to 2,992.

Brent spot was trading at $44.67 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $42.76. Spot gold was trading at $1,319 an ounce, silver was at $19.56 and platinum was at $1,092.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3110 and against the euro at 1.1920. The dollar was trading at 0.9092 against the euro and 105.45 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, chipmaker ARM Holdings reported a good set of results for the last quarter. In the three months to the end of June revenue rose by 17% to £267.7m, whil adjusted pre-tax profit rose 5% to £130.1m. the company is subject to a £24.3bn takeover bid from Japan's SoftBank.