World markets report

The FTSE 100 added 0.3% yesterday to close at 5,313 as banks lifted the market. Top performer was Royal Bank of Scotland, which rose 4.7% despite board members' threats of resignation. Lloyds was up 4.4% and Barclays 2.3%, but HSBC slipped 0.03%.

After leading the market up on Wednesday, miners were at the foot of the table yesterday as metals prices slipped. Xstrata lost 3.8%, and Rio Tinto, Lonmin and Anglo American fell 3.3%, 2.8% and 2.6% respectively. Bucking the sector trend, however, was Vedanta, which added 0.2%.

Europe

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose three points to 3,799; and the German Xetra Dax was 11 points lower at 5,770.

Start your trial of MoneyWeek today

Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.

Start your trial

Sign up for MoneyWeek’s free twice-daily newsletter.

Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Sign up

US

In the US, the Dow Jones fell 0.8% to 10,366; the S&P 500 lost 0.8% to 1,099; and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.5% to 2,173.

Asia

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to close at 10,022; and the broader Topix index added 0.2% to 889. In China, the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.6% to 3,317; and the CSI 300 gained 1.5% to 3,643.

Commodities

Brent spot was trading at $77.56 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $75.81. Spot gold was trading at $1,203 an ounce, silver was at $18.77 and platinum was at $1,481

Currencies

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.6618 and against the euro at 1.1029. The dollar was trading at 0.6638 against the euro and 88.14 against the Japanese yen.

UK news

And today, the National Audit Office (NAO) said that bailing out Britain's banks cost the taxpayer £850bn, but that the final cost won't be know for many years. It also said the government had spent over £100m on 'advisors' during the financial crisis. In a statement, the NAO said "public support provided to UK banks by the Treasury was justified given the scale of the economic and social costs if one or more major banks had collapsed."