Market Today

In the U.S., the Dow Jones notched up triple-digit gains & went on to close above 13,000 for the first time ever! At the bell, the industrials index was 135 points higher at 13,089. The Nasdaq added 23 points to end the day at 2,547. And the S&P 500 also closed in positive territory, at 1,495, having gained 15 points.

In London, stocks ended the day in the blue as drug stock Shire & mortgage lender HBOS reported strong trading, & the good start on Wall Street boosted sentiment. The blue-chip FTSE 100 added 32 points to end the day at 6,461. On the Continent, the Paris CAC-40 hit a six-year closing high of 5,947, having added 61 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX-30 closed 72 points higher, at 7,343.

In Asia, investor sentiment was also boosted by the gains on Wall Street. The Nikkei rose 193 points to close at 17,429. And in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng jumped 274 points to close at 20,749. STI also ended well, added 44 points to close at 3,406.

Crude oil futures had fallen slightly to $65.67 a barrel today, whilst Brent spot was down to $67.86 in London.

Spot gold rose to $686.40 overnight, from $684.50 late in New York, as the higher oil price prompted buying. Silver had climbed to $13.81.

On currencies, the pound had risen to 2.0031 against the dollar this morning whilst the euro had climbed to 1.3642 against the dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar was up to 118.96 against the Japanese yen.