A damp start gave way to some decent enough growth on Friday, the global market trying to pick back up the momentum that was squandered earlier in the week.
It appeared that investors had turned their attention from China’s sharp plunge in imports to the far better than forecast surge in exports. A 1.8% increase from copper helped the FTSE’s mining stocks push higher; add onto that substantial growth from Asia-exposed banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and the index was back at 7450 thanks to a 0.4% rise.
The Eurozone indices followed suit. The DAX once again neared 1200 as added rose 50 points, while the CAC was knocking on the door of 5500 as it climbed 0.2%. This despite a very strong morning for the euro, which jumped half a percent against the dollar and 0.3% against the pound following a better than expected – if still negative – Eurozone industrial production figure.
Turning to the US open and the Dow Jones is looking for a big, 150 point rise when the bell rings on Wall Street. That’d leave the index within reach of 26300, but still around 100 points off where it started the week.