The FTSE 100 and European stocks were higher this Friday after Wall Street broke its longest losing streak since December with a modest rally led by tech stocks and consumer confidence bounced back in the UK.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 0.26% to 7,928 points at the open, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris jumped 0.62% to 7,362 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) climbed 0.31% to 15,522.
Markets were upbeat as UK consumer confidence made a surprise rebound from historic lows despite ongoing cost-of-living woes, figures show.
Index heavyweights BP (BP.L) and Shell (SHEL.L), higher, up 1.30% and 0.90% respectively, pushed by higher oil prices.
British Airways owner IAG (IAG.L) was in the red, slipping 1.54%, despite saying it swung to a full-year profit as international travel recovered from the COVID pandemic.
Outside the FTSE 100, Cineworld (CINE.L) shares tumbled 43% as equity holders face wipeout.
Read more: Consumer confidence makes surprise rebound amid cost of living crisis
The world’s second-largest cinema chain said Friday that it had been approached by “a number” of potential suitors, but none of them had been willing to pay in cash to buy the whole business.
Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) rose and was trading at around $83/barrel ahead of anticipated supply constraints as Russia prepares to cut production in March.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) rose 1.29% to 27,543 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong lost 1.63% to 20,020. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) slipped 0.62% to 3,267 points.
Across the pond, US stocks scrambled higher Thursday to end a back-and-forth session in the green after rate worries drove four consecutive days of declines for the S&P 500.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) rose 0.33% to close at 33,153 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.53% to finish at 4,012 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) advanced 0.72% to 11,590.
Shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) rallied 14% after the chipmaker reported fourth quarter results late Wednesday that beat analyst estimates, even as gaming revenue nearly halved from last year.
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Investors are now looking ahead to the release of US personal consumption expenditure figures for January out later this Friday.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the red as trade began in Europe.
Watch: Market doesn’t ‘really have a sense of itself’ amid Fed rate hikes, strategist says
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