European markets have posted strong gains, fuelled by Wall Street’s best session since July, sparking hopes that confidence is returning to the market.
Sterling pound touched a two-week high against the dollar and the FTSE 100 index returned back above 7000.
There was a recovery for financial stocks after a reassuring trading update from Legal & General, which soothed fears about the underlying heatlh of the sector after the turmoil in UK assets after the government’s mini-Budget.
Last night’s improvement of 2.6% for the S&P 500 reflected hopes for a slowing in the pace of US interest rate rises after manufacturing activity data came in below expectations.
Meanwhile, stock market investors in London targeted heavily-sold stocks including Ocado and Next.
