FTSE, which bounced back from its five-month low on Thursday, decided to spend it in full rebound mode on Friday thanks to bank stocks.
The FTSE 100 has enjoyed a surge in the financial sector and has been willing to charter Lloyd, HSBC and Standard Charter Doll Rally by more than 4%. However, the real winner was Barclays (LON: BARC), who booked a profit of £1.1 billion, so the bank saw its shares rise 7%.
These profits resulted in FTSE adding 1.29% on Friday, pushing it up to 5,860 points from 5,723 on Thursday morning, closing on Friday.
Similarly, eurozone stocks joined in the fun, with CAC rising up to 4,909 points and DAX rising at a tattered margin of 0.82%, up to 12,645.
The profits across Europe were much needed after a week of lockdown fears that hindered market sentiment. And while FTSE stocks likely unfolded from a mixture of positive summer performance data and weak pounds, today’s rally was impressive given that European stocks were needed to ignore Dow Jones’ slow start in the afternoon.
Speaking about the Dow’s performance and the uncertain outlook for the US Index, Connor Campbell of Spreadex Financial Analyst said:
“A negative start in the US failed to stop European profits this Friday, but Dow Jones (had struggled) following the latest stimulus update.”
“Nancy Pelosi has once again questioned the possibility of a pre-election package, despite her and Treasury Secretary Stephen Munichin saying they are “just there” about the COVID-19 relief plan, but Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudrow has once again raised questions about the possibility of a pre-election package.”
“The concern is that Joe Biden’s victory could potentially lead to greater stimulus laws, but leaves little impulse on Republicans who clench their fierce fist to do something between November and January that could help the new president during the ‘Glam Duck’ period. And that may not mean financial relief until the New Year. ”
