Global equities rebound to end turbulent week

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Global equities rebound to end turbulent week
The opening of London's benchmark FTSE 100 shares was delayed nearly two hours on Friday by a software problem.

London - Week's most nerve-wracking event was so-called inversion of yield curve in US debt market

By Reuters

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Published: Fri 16 Aug 2019, 10:15 PM

Last updated: Sat 17 Aug 2019, 12:16 AM

Global stock markets rose on Friday as investors put economic growth fears and trade jitters to one side, deciding that they had had enough drama and losses for one week.
"We're ending a turbulent week on a more positive note as exhausted traders the world over head into the weekend in a more buoyant mood," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at the Oanda trading group. Equities have had a volatile five days, during which US-China trade talk hopes came and went and economic data pointed to a possible worldwide downturn.
The Dow on Wednesday suffered its worst one-day fall of the year, before recovering slightly on Thursday, reassured by strong US retail sales and Walmart earnings. On Friday, it continued to recover throughout the New York morning as investors found relief in hope for progress in the US-China trade war, and housing data offered enough good news not to ruin the party.
The week's most nerve-wracking event was a so-called inversion of the yield curve in the US debt market that Erlam said "has spooked a lot of people this week". Economists have warned for months that trade tensions would drag down sentiment, which was already suffering owing to China's economic slowdown and fears of Brexit's impact on Britain and Europe.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX 30 jumped 1.3 per cent and Paris' CAC 40: leapt 1.2 per cent. The Euro Stoxx 50 was also up 1.4 per cent at 3,328.32
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 1.09 per cent at 1236ET. The S&P 500 gained 1.38 per cent, while the Nasdaq added 1.61 per cent.
Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 0.9 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 per cent at 2,823.82. Japan's Nikkei was flat. India's Sensex inched up 0.1 per cent on buzz of a possible stimulus package by the government.
Gold fell 1 per cent, hurt by an uptick in equity markets and the dollar, but fears of a slowing global economy and lack of clarity on the US-China trade war kept bullion above the $1,500 level, putting it on track for a third straight weekly gain.
Spot gold was down 1 per cent at $1,508 per ounce as of 1510GMT, but is up 0.7 per cent so far this week. US gold futures fell 0.8 per cent to $1,518.50.
Elsewhere on Friday, the opening of London's benchmark FTSE 100 shares was delayed nearly two hours by a software problem, the London Stock Exchange said. "London Stock Exchange experienced a technical software issue this morning that affected trading in certain securities, including FTSE 100 and [second-tier] FTSE 250 stocks," it said.
The pound continued its recovery, "aided by a series of better-than-expected [UK] economic releases in recent days", helping to offset Brexit uncertainty, according to David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB.


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