Yahoo Finance FTSE and US stocks higher ahead of Fed chair Powell speech
The FTSE and markets across Europe gained on Friday, while US stocks were cautious ahead of a speech by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
By the end of the day, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) had rallied 1.1%, while Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) was buoyed 1% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris was 0.6% in the green – extending a jump that added $1.2trn to the Stoxx 600’s (^STOXX) market value last month.
US stocks were also rising ahead of a speech by Powell at around 1pm ET (6pm GMT), which should give further signals on the central bank's thinking on interest rates.
The Dow (^DJI) opened 0.3% higher an and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was 0.2% up. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was flat after falling in early trade.
The moves follow fresh evidence UK house prices are on the up again. UK house prices saw their third consecutive monthly increase, with the average cost of a home rising 0.2% in November from the month earlier to £258,557, Nationwide Building Society said.
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Annually, growth remains weak but this was the strongest rise since February.
Mining stocks also helped the FTSE 100 rise, following promising manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures out of China.
A private survey of Chinese factory activity showed manufacturing perform a shock expansion in November, buoyed by stronger demand.
Read more: UK house prices rise for third month in a row amid interest rate cut hopes
Anglo American (AAL.L) was leading the index, rising as much as 7.5%. Rio Tinto (RIO.L) was also up 3.7%. The mining giants had pared gains by the afternoon.
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Watch: House prices show further growth after pause in interest rate hikes, Nationwide says
