This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/business/7984993.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Stock markets give up early gains | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| European stock markets have given up early gains, falling on expectations that Wall Street would open lower. | |
| Earlier, shares had extended a recent rally inspired by hopes that the worst might be over for the world economy. | |
| After rising more than 1% at first, the UK's FTSE 100 index was down 1.1%, and French and German stocks also fell. | |
| Concerns about the upcoming corporate earnings season and reports suggesting that IBM was abandoning its takeover of Sun Microsystems unsettled investors. | |
| The FTSE 100 index was down 43.5 points at 3,986.17 points in afternoon trade. | |
| France's Cac 40 index was down 0.94% to 2,931.04 while Germany's Dax index had fallen 0.8% to 4,350.07. | |
| Bulls emerge? | |
| In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 3.1%, while Japan's Nikkei rose 1.2%. | |
| Investors were hopeful that low interest rates, stimulus plans and banking bail-outs would begin to pull the world economy out of its slump. | |
| The gains came after US stocks ended higher on Friday, logging a fourth week of consecutive gains, despite gloomy data on the jobs market. Markets also took heart after investors strongly backed HSBC's cash call - the biggest in UK corporate history. | |
| The pace of deterioration may have been decelerating Robert Peston, BBC business editor Read Robert's blog | The pace of deterioration may have been decelerating Robert Peston, BBC business editor Read Robert's blog |
| "Bulls are putting their heads above the parapet on the basis that the global economy appears to be getting past the bottom, but the next test will be how robust earnings are," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown. | "Bulls are putting their heads above the parapet on the basis that the global economy appears to be getting past the bottom, but the next test will be how robust earnings are," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown. |
| Asian markets shrugged off news of a rocket launch by North Korea, focusing instead on economic figures. | Asian markets shrugged off news of a rocket launch by North Korea, focusing instead on economic figures. |
| Japanese exporters, like Panasonic, got a boost as the yen weakened and after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that Fed strategies were easing the US financial crisis. | Japanese exporters, like Panasonic, got a boost as the yen weakened and after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that Fed strategies were easing the US financial crisis. |
| BBC business editor Robert Peston says that share prices have been rising not because there is evidence of economic recovery - but rather that the pace of deterioration may have been decelerating. | BBC business editor Robert Peston says that share prices have been rising not because there is evidence of economic recovery - but rather that the pace of deterioration may have been decelerating. |
| He says there is evidence that the availability of credit is improving in the UK , and that the underlying message from recent mixed data on the UK housing market may be that prices are not dropping as quickly as they were. | He says there is evidence that the availability of credit is improving in the UK , and that the underlying message from recent mixed data on the UK housing market may be that prices are not dropping as quickly as they were. |