Join Sophia Ziaee of City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/) as she brings you the latest trading floor news on Thursday 18th August 2011.<br /><br />- Wall Street closed last night with the Dow up just 4.28 points at 11,410.21.<br /><br />- The FTSE index in London dropped 76 points to 5255 in early trading, a decline of 1.4%, with mining and banking stocks among the biggest fallers.<br /><br />- Germany's Dax and the French CAC lost 1.6% and 1.5% respectively. In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 1.25% while the Hang Seng fell 1.2%.<br /><br />- Brent crude oil slipped 0.4 percent to $110.16 a barrel and gold is up 0.3 per cent to $1,794 an ounce<br /><br />- Equities are sliding and commodities prices are lower so expect plenty more market movement to follow in the day ahead.<br /><br />- Also keep an eye on the US jobless claims data alongside the release of the US consumer price index announced at 1.30 today.<br /><br />Spread betting and CFD trading are leveraged products which can result in losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the risks.
