17/08/2007

London FTSE Responds To US Rally

After four-year record slides in shares around the world the London market was showing signs of a rally.

Yesterday the London FTSE 100 shed 4% but on Friday afternoon the market had rallied sharply to pass 6100 mark and build on an early morning trading upturn.

The news that the US Federal Reserve was cutting its interest rate helped boost confidence in the market which fuelled a sustained climb in share values.

Trading in shares overnight showed a downward trend with the Nikkei in Tokyo closing 4.5% down, despite a rally in US shares. The Dow Jones Index, at one point 340 points down rallied to close 15.7 points down, only 0.12% lower than the day's opening.

However, the share slide has wiped around £130 billion from the top UK traded companies since last Wednesday as share prices dipping by 12% in four weeks.

Central bank have pumped in billion of pounds to support a market left nervous by reports that high-risk loan defaults have caused significant expose to financial institutions.

While the extent of this exposure to bad debt has yet to be fully quantified it is believed by some experts to be in excess of £150bn.

(SP)

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