Markets: FTSE 100 falls further

• FTSE 100 down 0.6% to 6,634
• Gold down 0.4% to $1,358.18/oz
• £/$ 1.3325

FTSE 100

Housebuilder Persimmon was the day's worst performer, down 2.7%. Other big fallers include Direct Line, which lost 2.4% and tobacco maker Imperial Brands, which slipped 2.3%

The FTSE 250 fell 0.4% to 16,997, and the FTSE All-Share index lost 0.2% to 3,603.

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In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.2% to 4,321 and the German Xetra Dax rose 0.3% to 10,170.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 18,355, the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 2,163, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% higher at 5,159.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.1% to 16,254 and the broader Topix index rose 1.7% to 1,282. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 0.2% to 3,201 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% higher at 2,982.

Brent spot was trading at $42.89 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $40.79. Spot gold was trading at $1,351 an ounce, silver was at $20.16 and platinum was at $1,154.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.3290 and against the euro at 1.1935. The dollar was trading at 0.8980 against the euro and 101.40 against the Japanese yen.

And today, bookmaker Ladbrokes reported a big rise in profits for the first half of the year. Revenue rose by 13.% to £661.8m, while pre-tax profits rose by 61% to £39.8m