April 18: FTSE100 Performance Analysis For This Day

Average percentage change for this day	0.259 %
Standard deviation	0.816
No. of times the FTSE has gone down today since 1984	6
No. of times FTSE has gone up today since 1984	8

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Metals data for today

	Gold	Silver	Platinum	Paladium
Day ranking (out of 365)	91	175	83	9
Avg. % change	0.195%	0.046%	0.266%	0.553%
Standard deviation % change	0.874	2.292	1.153	2.232
No. of times price has gone up	11	13	13	4
No. of times price has gone down	8	10	6	0

Gold:since 1970, Silver : 1970, Platinum: 1976, Paladium: 1996

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Yahoo European Business
European Shares at 2-1/2 Month Lows (Reuters)
EU Ban Bites Into S. Africa Ostrich Trade (AP)
Pro-EU Premier Wins Turkish Cypriot Vote (AP)
French 'non'to EU constitution could knock investor confidence (AFP)
European stocks tumble on Wall Street slump, tech troubles (AFP)
Sterling stays strong versus listing euro (AFP)
London shares end session in the red, hit by NY falls and slide in miners (AFP)
Dutch Bank's Bid for Antonveneta Approved (AP)
Chirac Urges French to OK Constitution (AP)
Romania, Bulgaria Must Reform to Join EU (AP)
EU ministers call for currency appreciation in Asia (AFP)

On this day
2000 HSBC and Merrill Lynch announced they are putting $1bn into creating a new global online bank and broker, called Merrill Lynch HSBC. (The joint venture lasted less than two years).
2000 After a long period of negotiation BP Amoco eventually won clearance from authorities in the US and merged with Atlantic Richfield Co (Arco).

BBC - On This Day
1955: Albert Einstein dies
Eminent scientist Dr Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, dies in hospital aged 76.
1988: 'Ivan the Terrible' guilty of war crimes
A retired US car worker has been found guilty of Nazi war crimes.
1994: Killing spreads in Rwanda
The ethnic violence in Rwandan capital Kigali is spreading throughout the country, aid officials say.
1996: Greek tourists killed by Egyptian gunmen
Seventeen Greek tourists and an Egyptian tour guide have been killed by gunmen in Cairo.
1978: Carter wins Panama Canal battle
The US Senate has narrowly backed President Carter's controversial Panama Canal treaty.
1960: Thousands protest against H-bomb
At least 60,000 demonstrators gather in Trafalgar Square to mark the end of the Aldermaston to London "ban the bomb"march

Wikipedia On This Day
Wikipedia entry for April 18