Global stock markets careered higher yesterday, spurred by red-hot commodity prices and a raft of surprisingly upbeat earnings on Wall Street, which reassured investors.
Global stock markets careered higher yesterday, spurred by red-hot commodity prices and a raft of surprisingly upbeat earnings on Wall Street, which reassured investors.
The FTSE-100 blue-chip index, which is laden with commodity companies and banks, roared 139.3 points, or 2.3%, and charged back over the psychologically key 6000 barrier to end the day at 6046.2, its highest close in six weeks.
In the perverse logic of stock markets, banking stocks everywhere got a lift after JP Morgan beat analysts' expectations, in spite of a 50% drop in first quarter profits.
The US's third-biggest bank, which is in the process of acquiring ailing Bear Stearns, reported $2.6bn (£1.3bn) of write-downs tied to its loan portfolio - apparently not quite as bad as everyone expected, and sent the markets into a frenzy of excitement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened sharply and had its best day since April 1. The index closed 256.80 points ahead at 12,619.27.
However, miners and oil companies also soared around the world as US crude oil rose as high as $115.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and later settled up $1.14 at a record close of $114.93 a barrel.
Brent crude settled $1.08 up at $112.66 a barrel, after hitting an all-time peak of $112.73.
At the same time, technology shares got a boost after chipmaker Intel exceeded analysts' first-quarter estimates, even as earnings came in lower than last year.
Fellow industrial Coca-Cola said first-quarter earnings climbed 19% to a better-than-expected $1.5bn.
Todd Salamone, at Schaeffer's Investment Research in New York, said: "There's an unwinding of all the negativity that we saw ahead of the earnings season."
Meanwhile, the Frankfurt DAX index ended at 6702.84 points, up 117.79 or 1.8%, and the Paris CAC-40 index closed at 4855.1 points, up 74.42 or 1.6%.
Australian and South African stocks also raced to record highs on the back of commodity shares and the galloping oil price.
