FTSE stays positive as financials and miners extend gains. Joshua Raymond at City Index notes that since July 13, the FTSE 100 is 12% higher and rallying at an average of 1.2% each day, largely following a pleasing earnings season. Says, “the main positive it shows is [the] growing trust amongst investors that the heavyweight stocks will head in the right direction.” Warns, though, that stock prices could be artificially inflated if companies are beating expectations due to lower expectations, allied with low volumes in equity markets.
The cost of borrowing longer-term U.S. dollars in the London interbank market fell Friday as term funding pressures eased marginally.
Data from the British Bankers’ Association showed three-month dollar Libor,
seen as a key gauge of the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve’s monetary
policy, moved down to 0.50188% from Thursday’s 0.50375%, matching Wednesday’s record low.
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The euro zone’s economic contraction slowed more than expected in July, but an acceleration in the decline of French output suggested the currency area’s recovery from the deepest recession since World War II is likely to be gradual.
The flash reading of the euro zone’s composite output index, a closely watched gauge of private-sector activity, rose to a 10-month high of 46.8 in
July from 44.6 in June, Markit Economics said Friday.
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