Fuelled by hopes of stimulus stateside, and actual stimulus on the continent, the European markets surged out of the gates on Thursday.
Leading the charge was the CAC, following the unveiling of the ‘France Relaunch’ plan – a €100 billion spend on various measures, including jobs, the environment, and making the country’s economy ‘more competitive’. Obviously overjoyed, the French index rose 1.9%, lifting it to a 6-week-plus peak of 5115.
The DAX wasn’t too far behind, jumping 1.8% – or 200 points – to cross 13400, its best level since the end of February.
Receiving some run-off goodwill not only from Thursday’s French announcement, but the underlying vaccine hopes that were egged on yesterday, the FTSE – perhaps hopefully of further stimulus down the road, but with no timeframe to talk of – nevertheless lagged behind its peers. A 0.9% increase continues to lift the UK index away from its recent lows, but still left it short of the key 6000 level.
At the moment the Dow Jones is only looking to add 100 points after the bell. That is, however, following its best session since mid-July, the Dow climbing 450 points on a combination of pre-Christmas vaccine optimism, and Steven Mnuchin’s insistence that a bipartisan spending plan can still be agreed. Though nothing has actually changed between Republicans and Democrats on that front, the Dow is heading for 29200, and is only 300 to 400 points away from February’s record highs.
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