The FTSE 100 continued its ascent this afternoon and was up 80.57 points (+1.83%) to 4481.13 at 2.30pm. The mid-cap FTSE 250, on the other hand, lost some of the ground it had gained this morning, but still managed to stay up 74.85 (+0.97%) at 7766.50.
Mining firms continued to lead the pack on the FTSE 100, with Vedanta Resources topping the leader board at 1788p (+9.63% ), followed closely by Eurasian Natural Resources (+7.3%) at 732p. Xstrata, up 8.73% at 783p, and Kazakhmys, up 8.20% at 747p, also rose higher over the course of the afternoon.
It was a positive day for many European markets, too, with the DAX climbing a further 0.46% to 5104.60 and the CAC 40 climbing to 3349.31 (+1.59%).
In the US, less than positive economic data weighed on Wall Street, with the Dow losing 17.31 points (0.20%) to 8745.75 by 4pm (London time) and the S&P losing 2.98 points (0.32%) to 939.45. On the Dow, winners at the start of trading were from the mining and energy sectors, with Alcoa and Chevron featuring among the top five gainers, up 2.47% at $11.43 and 1.58% at $71.30 respectively. The banking sector was also represented, with Citigroup achieving a boost of 3.52% at $3.53 and Bank of America rising 1.41% to $12.23.
Today’s macroeconomic data has been less than positive in the US, with the latest trade balance report indicating that exports in the country have hit their lowest level in three years. The gap between imports and exports has widened by 2.2% to reach $29.2 billion. However, Brian Bethune, chief US financial economist at HIS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, suggests that ‘The rest of the world still looks weak, so we do not expect the US recovery to be export-led.’ [1]
As the trading day progresses, indices may also feel the effects of weak US mortgage applications data which shows that applications dropped by 7.2% to 611 in the week ending June 5, from 658.7 the week before, despite a slight reduction in borrowing costs.
[1] Source: Bloomberg (10 June 2009)
By Anthony Grech, Research Analyst, IG Index.
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