Markets: positive data from the US and Europe push FTSE 100 back up

Positive jobs data from the US, and hopes of money-printing form the ECB pushed the markets back up yesterday. The FTSE 100 closed 0.8% higher at 6,419.

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  • FTSE 100 up 0.8% to 6,419
  • Gold down 0.57% to $1,211.47/oz
  • £/$ - 1.5110

Chipmaker ARM was among the top performers after being upgraded by Morgan Stanley. And power supplier Aggreko was also in demand after signing a two-year deal with Energia Argentina.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 29 points to 4,112, and the German Xetra Dax gained 49 points to 9,518.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each rose 1.2% to 17,584 and 2,025 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.3% to 4,650.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.7% to 17,167, and the broader Topix index added 1.3% to 1,377. And in China, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.4% to 3,293, and the CSI 300 was 2.3% lower at 3,559.

Brent spot was trading at $50.97 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $48.67. Spot gold was trading at $1,208 an ounce, silver was at $16.41 and platinum was at $1,217.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5045 and against the euro at 1.2743. The dollar was trading at 0.8470 against the euro and 119.77 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Tesco says it is to make cuts of £250m in a bid to stem losses, and will close 43 stores, halt the opening of 49 more, and move its headquarters. It is also closing its staff pension scheme. Christmas sales were better than expected however, down just 0.3% on the previous year.

David Stevenson, former MoneyWeek writer and director of The Fleet Street Letter, believessilver could be about to start a record climb. Click here(capital at risk)to read about the three irresistible forces David believes could push the price of silver through the roof.

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