Yahoo Finance LIVE: FTSE and Wall Street surge as UK avoids recession and eurozone inflation falls
The FTSE (^FTSE), European stock markets, and Wall Street spent the final day of the week, month, quarter, and half year in positive territory, as new data confirmed that the UK avoided recession over the winter, while eurozone inflation fell to 5.5%.
London's benchmark index rose 0.8% during the session, while the CAC (^FCHI) gained 1.4% in Paris, and the Frankfurt DAX (^GDAXI) was also 1.4% higher.
Across the pond, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) surged 1.3% thanks to Apple (AAPL) crossing the $3trn market cap mark again. The Dow Jones (^DJI) edged almost 0.7% higher by the time of the European close.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday morning, the British economy grew by 0.1% in the first three months of this year, as well as in the final quarter of 2022.
“Any growth is good but remember this growth still leaves the UK economy struggling to make up the ground it lost during the pandemic, and although we are in the same boat as Germany, the failure to have properly capitalised on the reopening momentum is cause for concern," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
It came as Nationwide reported that UK property prices are down 3.5% on an annual basis on the back of sharp increases in borrowing costs.
Compared with June last year, house prices were down 3.5%, largely unchanged from the 3.4% in the previous month, however prices did rise 0.1% between May and June.
The average house price was £262,239 in June, with London having the second-sharpest year-on-year decline, at 4.3%.
Read more: Interest rates: Eight ways you can defuse the mortgage timebomb
Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner said: “Longer term interest rates, which underpin mortgage pricing, have increased sharply in recent months, in response to data indicating that underlying inflation in the UK economy is not moderating as fast as expected.
The average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate on Friday is 6.39%, up from 6.37% on Thursday, according to financial information website Moneyfacts.
The average five-year fixed residential mortgage rate is 5.96%, up from 5.94% on Thursday, as it approaches the 6% mark.
Watch: How does inflation affect interest rates
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