Asia and US markets rally, FTSE 100 seen slightly higher
Asia markets extended their gains this morning after support measures including a stamp duty cut on stock trades were announced by regulators in China over the weekend.
The moves have helped to draw investors back to the market, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong up another 2% and the Shanghai Composite ahead by more than 1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also in positive territory at a two-week high.
Wall Street closed higher for the second successive session after Friday’s guidance from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that further tightening of monetary policy will be a finely balanced decision.
He said inflation remains too high but that policymakers will need to tread carefully in order to avoid causing unnecessary harm to the US economy.
The Nasdaq Composite finished Monday’s session up by 0.8% and the S&P 500 index rose 0.6%. London’s FTSE 100 index is forecast by IG Index to start the week five points higher at 7344.
Recap: Friday’s top stories
Good morning. Here’s a summary of our top headlines from Friday:
- Equinox plunges to £18m loss and a spate of central London fitness clubs warn on going concern status in signs luxury gyms under threat as customers trade down
- Ofgem price cap to cut bills into the first winter without government support for energy consumers since the Ukraine invasion
- London fintech LendInvest warned it has suffered a data breach in which customer personal data had been accessible to third parties
- Lord Cruddas firm CMC profit warning – “August in particular has seen a more challenging environment with markedly lower monetisation of client trading activity”. Profit could be £30m less than previously thought
- H&M to re-open stores in Ukraine, the group says it is “in close contact with local stakeholders” and will “gradually” bring the chain back “wherever possible”
- Profits fall at law firm DWF ahead of takeover by private equity firm Inflexion. Boss says that without the Inflexion offer, the results would have put shareholders’ dividends at risk