Easing Evergrande fears lift FTSE 100 as investors brace for Fed rate decision

The FTSE 100 rallied today to cancel out sharp losses registered yesterday, driven by easing fears over the fallout if heavily indebted Chinese property Evergrande collapses.

The capital’s premier index finished up 1.12 per cent at 6,980.98 points, up from this week’s starting position of 6,963.64 points.

Global markets sold off sharply on Monday, triggered by concerns over the ramifications if Evergrande, the heavily indebted Chinese property developer, folds. The FTSE lost 0.86 per cent.

Bookmaker Entain was the big winner on London markets yesterday, skyrocketing 18.04 per cent after news broke that US fantasy sports betting company, DraftKings, is mulling a bid for the company. Fellow bookmaker Flutter received a residual 3.46 per cent boost on the news.

Industrials and energy stocks also led the FTSE higher on Tuesday, with the likes of British Airways parent company IAG and oil majors BP and Shell climbing more than 1.65 per cent.

Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, said: “After a manic Monday comes another turnaround Tuesday.”

“Whilst investors are still clearly nervous about the countdown to a potential Evergrande default they’ve been happy to jump on some rebound action today or embrace potential new seams of opportunity.”

Markets are bracing for the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England’s interest rate decisions today and tomorrow respectively.