A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks have finished a painful third quarter on a positive note, joining big European and Asian markets in rallying on speculation of more monetary stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday advanced 235.57 points (1.47 per cent) to 16,284.70, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 35.94 (1.91 per cent) to 1,920.03.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 102.84 (2.28 per cent) to 4,620.16, notching its first increase in seven sessions.
Analysts said weak eurozone inflation data lifted expectations for more stimulus from the European Central Bank.
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They also pointed to technical factors behind Wednesday’s strong gains after US markets tested an August low on Tuesday, but failed to breach it.
LONDON – European stocks rebounded as investors snapped up bargain shares and eyed hopes of more eurozone stimulus, after recent heavy falls sparked by global growth worries.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies ended Wednesday 2.58 per cent higher at 6,061.61 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 index finished 2.57 per cent ahead at 4,455.29 points, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 ended 2.22 per cent up at 9,660.44.
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The euro slipped to $US1.1168 from $US1.1254 late on Tuesday in New York.
Eurozone inflation unexpectedly fell to negative 0.1 per cent in September, data showed, suggesting a dangerous spell of falling prices could be returning to Europe.
“Whilst one month of negative inflation is not going to send (ECB head) Mario Draghi scrambling to open his big box of ECB QE, it does suggest that, perhaps, the central bank’s stimulus program is not having the same effect as it did when it was first introduced back in March,” analyst Connor Campbell at trading firm Spreadex said.
HONG KONG – Asian stocks recovered from a mass sell-off in the previous session, but analysts are warning of further volatility ahead.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Glencore, which has been hammered by soft resources demand in China that led brokerage Investec to question its future, were the stand-out winner as they rallied after Tuesday’s crash.
The shares finished 15.1 per cent higher after the debt-laden Swiss company insisted its business was “operationally and financially robust”.
Tokyo surged more than three per cent at one point before ending 2.7 per cent higher. Sydney jumped 2.10 per cent, Hong Kong finished up 1.41 per cent and Shanghai gained 0.48 per cent.
However, Raiko Shareef, a markets strategist in Wellington at Bank of New Zealand, warned clients “the stabilisation in risk sentiment looks relatively tentative to us. We’d be wary of another deterioration in Asia today as funding costs spike in China ahead of a week-long holiday.”
Chinese markets are closed from Thursday for the National Day holiday week.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 19.06 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5593.36.
– AAP
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