Yahoo Finance Markets rise as Evergrande staves off potential collapse
Troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande seemed to stave off immediate collapse on Friday, helping to lift global markets – including stocks in London.
The FTSE 100 closed up 14.25, crowning a good week for the index.
It ended at 7,204.55, a 0.2% rise on the day before.
“The imminent prospect of an Evergrande default appears to have been deferred for another day, after this morning’s report out of Asia that it had paid the 83.5 million US dollars (£60.7 million) interest payment, which was due for payment by tomorrow,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“As a consequence, we look set to finish the week in a much better place than when we started it, when we saw some sharp falls, with the FTSE 100 and (Germany’s) Dax looking set to consolidate the gains that we saw after last week’s strong gains.”
He added: “A rebound in commodity prices and the deferral of a weekend Evergrande default has also helped push the basic resource higher on the day, with the likes of BHP and Rio Tinto rallying on higher gold and copper prices.”
The FTSE 100 is hovering around some of the highest levels it has seen since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the index still has some way to go before it reaches its January 2020 highs of around 7,675.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “The FTSE 100 has shaken off much of the negativity of earlier in the week, and is putting its best foot forward in a bid to surpass recent highs.
“As with US indices, raw materials and banks are behind the strength in the index, as the success of US earnings season bolsters confidence in other indices and sectors in the hopes that the global economic rebound is still on track.”
The Dax in Germany rose 0.5%, the Cac in Paris gained 0.7%. In the US, the S&P 500 had dipped by 0.4% and the Dow Jones was trading flat shortly after European markets closed.
Sterling dropped by more than 0.1% against the US dollar, buying 1.3753 by the end of the day, it also fell, albeit a lot less, to 1.182 euros.
The biggest loser on the FTSE 100 was the London Stock Exchange Group. The company saw its shares plummet by 6%.
The company had reported good synergies from its merger with data provider Refinitiv, but Mr Hewson said that investors were disappointed by the company’s data and analytics division, which grew by less than expected.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Polymetal, up 40.5p to 1,417.5p, Croda, up 236p to 9,258p, DCC, up 128p to 6,224p, Fresnillo, up 17.8p to 916.6p, and JD Sports, up 19.5p to 1,059p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were London Stock Exchange, down 484p to 7,600p, United Utilities, down 146p to 4,850p, IAG, down 4p to 156.06p, Rolls-Royce, down 3p to 135.1p, and Taylor Wimpey, down 3p to 149.4p.
