FTSE 100 gains £60bn in one day as investors regain confidence
It's been a rollercoaster of a week for the FTSE 100. Having lost £72bn on Monday, won half of it back on Tuesday and then suffered losses again on Wednesday, the direction the blue-chip index would head in next seemed far from certain.
But it's been on a serious upward streak today, rising 3.6 per cent and gaining £60bn in the process, in its biggest one-day rise since October 2011.
The main winners were mining companies, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta rising 9.3 per cent, 9.2 per cent and 8.9 per cent, respectively.
The pharmaceutical sector also performed well, with shares in Shire and GSK each making gains of more than four per cent.
At the start of the week, the FTSE 100 fell victim to a global panic, after an 8.5 per cent decline on the Shanghai Composite index sent stocks across European and US markets tumbling.
The FTSE lost a total of 4.67 per cent of its value at the time, while on the continent the German Dax was down 4.6 per cent and the French Cac 40 fell 5.47 per cent.
But China's decision the following morning to cut its benchmark interest rate revived some risk-taking among investors, resulting in one of the FTSE's best days in recent years.
Global enthusiasm has also been encouraged by yesterday's suggestion from senior Fed policymaker Bill Dudley that US interest rates would not rise next month because of the risk of China's slowdown spilling into other economies.