Yahoo Finance Wall Street in the red as FTSE 100 closes higher despite wave of UK strikes
The FTSE 100 and European stocks finished Monday's session in the green, with the UK blue-chip index shrugging off fears of a country brought to a standstill as Border Force workers, ambulance crews, DWP staff, and others join Christmas strikes this week.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 0.53% to close at 7,370, while the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris climbed 0.37% to 6,476 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) gained 0.32% to 13,937.
On Wall Street, stocks were lower after two straight weeks of losses on recession worries.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) was down 0.10% to 32,890. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.53% to 3,831 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) plunged 1.13% to 10,584.
"As a chill settles on markets, there is not much sign of a sustained Santa rally instead there is still a lack of overall cheer with investors mulling more interest rate rises and the never-ending story of the pandemic," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The winter wave of COVID crashing over China is proving unsettling with worries about an escalation of infections now outweighing hopes that the easing of restrictions would lead to a brighter outlook for the economy.”
Investors have so far dismissed the series of strikes that will continue across a number of industries in the UK this week in an escalating campaign of industrial action.
Read more: Christmas strikes: What are your rights?
Border Force workers, nurses, ambulance drivers, border staff, postal and railway workers are all set to walk out.
The Cabinet Office is expected to publish a new "resilience framework" this Monday, bringing together all levels of government and including the private sector, charities and the public to "bolster" the UK's preparedness for industrial action.
The FTSE 100's climb was supported by gains in oil stocks, with BP (BP.L) rising 2.55%, Harbour Energy (HBR.L) up 0.39% and Shell (SHEL.L) gaining 2.03%.
The push in oil stocks was coming from Brent crude (BZ=F) prices, which were up to around $79 per barrel following a pledge from China to revive consumption and ease lockdown restrictions.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) fell 1.05% to finish at 27,237 while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong retreated 0.86% to 19,283. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) lost 1.91% to 3,107 points.
