FTSE rebounds after US recovery
Shares on the London Stock Exchange lifted in early trading
Also In The News
|
K7, out now. |  |
Tuesday, 23, Oct 2007 11:36
London's FTSE 100 index edged back up today following an overnight recovery on Wall Street.
Share prices across Europe were lifted by the rise in US stocks, which had slumped sharply on Friday – prompting yesterday's falls on this side of the Atlantic.
In early trading the FTSE climbed by 53 points, or 0.8 per cent, after closing down just over one per cent at 6,459.1 yesterday.
Frankfurt's Dax also gained 0.5 per cent in early trading, while Paris' Cac was up 0.7 per cent.
The rises in Europe followed gains made in the Asian markets earlier in the day, prompted by the lifting of stocks in the US.
Expectations that technology giant Apple would deliver strong earnings growth helped drive the increases, with the company subsequently reporting a 67 per cent rise in quarterly profits following the close of trading.
New York's Dow Jones index closed up 45 points at 13,567 on the optimism over Apple's results, reversing last week's sharp decline.
The Dow Jones slumped by 367 points on Friday, coincidently the 20th anniversary of Black Monday – the day when the US and UK markets experienced the biggest crash ever recorded.
Friday's fall represented the largest decline seen since the problems on the world's credit markets arose this summer - the result of rising default levels across the US-sub prime mortgage sector.
But despite speculation that last week's drop in the US could prompt a repeat of the losses experienced two decades ago, calm appears to have returned to markets across the world.
Last week's fall in the US was prompted by renewed fears that the full extent of the slowdown in the American housing market was yet to emerge.
Stocks began dropping after the US building equipment firm Caterpillar blamed the state of the economy for the company's decision to cut its profit forecast, while concerns about the impact of rising oil prices also affected trading.