Markets: housebuilders drag FTSE 100 down

• FTSE 100 down 0.5% to 6,693
• Gold up 0.14% to $1,353.15/oz
• £/$ 1.3179

FTSE 100

Housebuilders were the day's biggest fallers. Taylor Wimpey led the index down with a 4.55 fall, while Berkeley lost 4%, Barratt fell 3.1% and Persimmon was 2.8% lower.

The FTSE 250 fell 0.8% to 17,139, and the FTSE All-Share index lost 0.5% to 3,635.

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In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.7% to 4,409 and the German Xetra Dax slipped 0.1% to 10,330.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 18,404, the S&P 500 lost 0.1% to 2,170, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 5,184.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% to 16,391 and the broader Topix index lost 1.6% to 1,300. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 0.4% to 3,189 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.6% higher at 2,971.

Brent spot was trading at $42.26 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $40.16. Spot gold was trading at $1,358 an ounce, silver was at $20.49 and platinum was at $1,167.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3214 and against the euro at 1.1795. The dollar was trading at 0.8926 against the euro and 101.91 against the Japanese yen.

And today, precious metals miner Fresnillo reported a rise in profits for the second half of the year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the six months to 30 June rose by 49% to $474m, up from $317.9m in the same period last year.