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FTSE 100 seen higher after oil and gold prices jump amid Libya air strikes

Last updated: 17:08 21 Mar 2011 AEDT, First published: 18:08 21 Mar 2011 AEDT

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The FTSE 100 is expected to start with a 38 point (0.6 percent) gain this morning after climbing 39 points (0.4 percent) on Friday to trim its weekly losses to 57 points (1 percent) and close at 5,718.

National Grid (LON:NG) led the blue chips, advancing 4.4 percent.

Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL) and defense and aerospace systems manufacturer BAE Systems (LON:BA) added 4.2 percent and 3.7 percent respectively.

Tour operator TUI Travel (LON:TT) advanced 3.4 percent.

The biggest fallers included chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM), which dropped 4.2 percent.

Insurer Admiral Group (LON:ADM) and oil and gas major BG Group (LON:BG) shed 1.4 percent.

US stocks were on the rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed 0.7 percent. The S&P 500 index rose 0.4 percent and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite tacked on 0.3 percent.

JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) led the DJIA constituents, advancing 2.6 percent.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT)
and American Express (NYSE:AEX) added nearly 2 percent.

Travelers Company (NYSE:TRV) was at the bottom of the pile with a 1.1 percent loss.

Commodities

As was expected, oil prices rose sharply today. US light, sweet crude for April delivery jumped to US$103.01/barrel. May crude last traded at US$103.92/barrel.

The ceasefire declared by Libya on Friday in response to the UN Security Council’s resolution authorising military action against pro-government forces didn’t last. The United States and its European allies commenced an air assault on Libya late on Saturday.

In other news, the World Bank has estimated that it will take five years and US$235 billion to rebuild Japan. The country's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 2.7 percent on Friday.

Precious metals climbed. Gold rose to US$1,427/oz. Silver and platinum surged to US$35.75/oz and US$1,731/oz respectively.

Base metals followed. Copper and nickel fell to US$4.30/lb and US$12.07/lb. Zinc retreated to US$1.041/lb.

Today’s macroeconomic news will include the Chicago Fed national activity index and pending home sales.

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