There’s been a strong rally in stock markets this morning with the FTSE 100 gaining over 100 points as investors seek to recover from the recent declines. The benchmark has moved up to its highest level in 3 weeks on the back of this, but is still set to post a large monthly decline. The pound is also in an upbeat mood, gaining across the board as it too seeks to recoup some recent losses.
Worst month for stocks in 6 years
Even after this morning’s gains global equity markets are left licking their wounds after a brutal month, with the MSCI world equity index still down over 8% for October and on track for its worst month since 2012. Ongoing US-Chinese trade tensions, slowing global growth and rising US interest rates all have contributed to the sell-off and the question going forward now is whether the worst of it is over or if there’s another wave of selling into year-end. The recent stabilisation is a pleasing development at least and with positive seasonality often seen in US stocks following the Midterms this latest rise could yet be more than a dead cat bounce and may well lead to a sustained recovery.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) called to open higher after mixed earnings update
There’s been some volatile after hours trade in Facebook shares following the firm’s latest trading update, with an initial swoon being bought and the stock is now called to open higher by around 3% after being down as much as 5% yesterday evening. The moves are a reflection of what could be described as a mixed earnings release, with earnings per share smashing forecasts but any over optimism was tempered by a smaller than expected rise in daily active users and a small miss in revenues. Taking a step back the results are fairly solid on the whole and while it looks like rapid growth for the tech giant may be becoming a thing of yesteryear, at least the business is consolidating and generating decent profits. The previous update back in July was met with a bloodbath as the stock plunged 20% after hours, and while the stock has been whippy this time out, it is expected to be more sanguine when it opens at 1:30 this afternoon.