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Wall Street rises on stimulus talks as FTSE 100 closes flat

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Markets Remain Volatile As Platforms Block Trades Of Certain Stocks
US stocks pushed higher as investors turned to talks over further pandemic stimulus

Wall Street pushed higher this afternoon as investors looked to corporate earnings and signs of progress on more pandemic stimulus.

The Dow Jones was up 0.91 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.86 and 0.88 per cent respectively.

It came after the FTSE 100 closed four points lower this afternoon as sterling jumped off the back of the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates.

London’s blue-chip index opened 0.26 per cent higher this morning before closing down 0.06 per cent at 6,503 points.

The FTSE started the day positively as sterling dipped ahead of the central bank’s decision and a number of well-received trading updates helped optimism.

The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to keep rates at 0.1 per cent and its bond-buying programme at £895bn.

Sterling welcomed the decision and returned cable to $1.367 while two-year yields jumped from 0.1 per cent to 0.05 per cent. Historically when sterling rises the value of the FTSE index falls.

“The pound’s surge of relief took the wind out of the sails of the FTSE, which was left to hover unchanged at 6,500,” Connor Campbell,

Banks closed the day among the leading risers in the FTSE. Natwest closed up 5.5 per cent, Lloyds climbed 5.7 per cent while Barclays ended the session up 2.8 per cent.

Wall Street opens higher as Gamestop rally retreats

Wall Street opened higher with all three main indices in the green as investors looked to earnings and signs of progress on a huge fiscal stimulus package.

Confidence was also buoyed by better-than-expected labour market data in the US.

The Labor Department’s report showed 779,000 Americans filed new applications for unemployment benefits last week, lower than 812,000 in the prior week.

It was not such a great day for Gamestop which saw its value decline more than 25 per cent to $69.30 in a further correction. On Tuesday Gamestop shares plunged more than 60 per cent before clawing back some of its losses on Wednesday, closing at $92.41.