Wall Street has opened in negative territory after Wednesday’s gains in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade.
In the immediate aftermath on Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared, but in early trading it has lost nearly 40 points which has taken some of the shine off the gains in Europe.
But Standard Chartered is sharply higher, up 34.7p or nearly 7% at 547.4p, after key shareholder Temasek said it would give the bank time to restructure. The Singapore state investor holds 18% of the bank and is currently reviewing its portfolio. But sources told Reuters that it was prepared to await a turnaround by new Standard chief executive Bill Winters after the bank was hit by underperforming loans in emerging markets.
The news comes after JP Morgan Cazenove issued a positive comment on the bank, saying it was at least 50% undervalued compared to its peers.
