World markets report

Dec 18, 2009

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The FTSE 100 fell 1.9% yesterday to close at 5,217, with banks and miners dragging the index down.

Banks took fright at new rules proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Lloyds and Barclays were the worst performers, down 8.1% and 6.2% respectively. HSBC and RBS both lost 3.5%.

Miners gave up yesterday's gains as metals prices fell. Xstrata lost 5.2%, Antofagasta fell 4.1% and Kazakhmys was 3.6% lower.

Europe

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 45 points to 3,831; and the German Xetra Dax was 59 points lower at 5,844.

US

In the US, the Dow Jones fell 1.3% to 10,308; the S&P 500 lost 1.2% to 1,096; and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.2% lower at 2,180.

Asia

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% to 10,142; and the broader Topix index lost 0.3% to close at 893. In China, the Shanghai Composite index fell 2% to 3,113; and the CSI 300 closed down 2.5% at 3,391.

Commodities

Brent spot was trading at $72.76 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $73.43. Spot gold was trading at $1,108 an ounce, silver was at $17.27 and platinum was at $1,438

Currencies

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.6224 and against the euro at 1.1271. The dollar was trading at 0.6948 against the euro and 90.10 against the Japanese yen.

UK news

And today, senior Bank of England official Andrew Haldane has said that if bankers were to leave Britain to escape higher tax, that would be a "price worth paying". Haldane, who is the Bank's head of financial stability, told the BBC: "Some of the downside of carrying around a big financial system is now evident to all. If some of that were to migrate overseas that would be unfortunate but ... may be a price worth paying."

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